3 consumer a utility to provide a utility service to consumer or withdraws a utility service from consumer, and failure or withdrawal causes substantial hardship, or is likely to cause substantial hardship, to consumer 4 person affected by contravention contravention of s 51 (Protection of personal information) by a utility 5 person affected by contravention contravention by a utility of an obligation under this Act in relation to its network operations 6 person affected by act or omission act or omission of an authorised person for a utility in relation to network operations 7 person on whom charge imposed capital contribution charge imposed under s 101 The respondent says that Mr Mitchell is not a person covered by any of the items in Table 172 and that the tribunal therefore has no jurisdiction to deal with his complaint, at least under the Utilities Act. I accept that his complaint is not about a capital contribution charge, or the use of his personal information, or about something relating to the utility’s network operations and so items 4 to 7 in Table 172 cannot apply to him. 1 to 3 of Table 172 permit a consumer to make a complaint about contravention of certain contracts, or about a failure to provide a service, or about contravention of an industry code relating to utility service standards. The issue is whether Mr Mitchell is a consumer. The respondent’s application contends that Mr Mitchell is not a consumer. Who is a Consumer for the purposes of Part 12? The term “consumer” is defined in the dictionary to the Utilities Act to mean either a customer or an occupier of a customer’s premises, and includes an invitee of the customer or of the occupier. This definition was in the original Act and has not been amended over the years. The Explanatory Memorandum for the Utilities Bill 2000 does not specifically mention it. The definition is broad – it is not limited to people who have a contractual relationship with the utility to acquire services from the utility. It says: consumer, in relation to a utility service, means— (a) a customer for the service; or
The respondent’s written and oral submissions concerned only the issue of whether Mr Mitchell is a consumer and did not traverse the further issues of whether if so, he is affected by a contravention for the purposes of item 1 or 2 of Table 172. The submissions simply asserted that he could not be because he is not a consumer. I note that a copy of the model standing offer for basic connection services effective from 1 July 2016 was attached to the respondent’s written submissions. Clause 4 and attachment 2 deal with the timeframes for commencement and completion of the connection service work. The timeframe for basic connection work for 1 to 4 connections is “Within 20 business days of you notifying us of your acceptance of our connection offer”. Clause 4 has a number of conditions and qualifications. Because the hearing was restricted to a narrow issue of jurisdiction, I cannot decide now whether or how Clause 4 is relevant to Mr Mitchell’s complaint. Nor can I decide whether there is a relevant industry code that has been contravened or whether the circumstances of this matter can constitute a failure to provide a utility service that was likely to cause substantial hardship to Mr Mitchell for the purposes of item 3 of Table 172. I cannot decide whether any and if so what order should be made under section 178 (ACAT decisions) or section 181 (Payment for loss or damage) of the Utilities Act. The respondent’s representative reminded me during the course of the hearing that I could not stray into consideration of these issues. To ensure procedural fairness the application will need to be re-listed for the hearing of submissions and where relevant, the taking of evidence about the issues. It is not appropriate for that to be done in a piecemeal fashion. The parties should prepare on the basis that all issues may need to be addressed in order to conclude the consideration of Mr Mitchell’s complaint. The application is referred back to the registry to arrange a further listing. ……………………………….. President L Crebbin