Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act 2003 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 2 · Unfair Practices
6. Consumer’s right to sue for unfair practice
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A consumer who enters a consumer transaction involving an unfair practice may sue the supplier in court. This does not apply if the claim or its subject matter is worth more than $30,000, or another limit the minister sets. A consumer may give up the amount above the limit, but cannot then recover more than the limit.
Summary · Drafted with AI, checked against the official text on 30 Sep 2026.
A consumer who has entered a consumer transaction involving an unfair practice may commence an action in a court of competent jurisdiction against the supplier.
consumer
“consumer” means an individual who, otherwise than exclusively in the course of business —(a)receives or has the right to receive goods or services from a supplier; or(b)has a legal obligation to pay a supplier for goods or services that have been or are to be supplied to another individual;
The right to commence an action under subsection (1) does not apply where —
the amount of the claim exceeds the prescribed limit; or
there is no claim for money, and the remedy or relief sought in the action is in respect of a subject matter the value of which exceeds the prescribed limit.
For the purposes of subsection (2)(a), where the amount claimed consists of a balance not exceeding the prescribed limit after set-off of any amount claimed or recoverable by the supplier from the consumer, being a set-off admitted by the consumer in the particulars of his or her claim, the amount of the claim is not taken to exceed the prescribed limit.
supplier
“supplier” means a person who, in the course of the person’s business —(a)provides goods or services to consumers;(b)manufactures, assembles or produces goods;(c)promotes the use or purchase of goods or services; or(d)receives or is entitled to receive money or other consideration as a result of the provision of goods or services to consumers,and includes any employee or agent of the person, and the word “supply”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, has corresponding meanings;
For the purposes of subsection (2)(b), where the subject matter in an action is a residential property, its value is —
residential property
“residential property” means any house, flat or other premises which is permitted to be used pursuant to any written law as a dwelling house and any such house, flat or other premises which is in the course of being constructed;
the annual value of the immovable property appearing in the Valuation List prepared under section 10 of the Property Tax Act 1960;
the annual rent, or 12 times the monthly rent, payable by the tenant in respect of the immovable property (if this value is lower than the value in paragraph (a)); or
if the annual value, annual rent or monthly rent cannot be ascertained, one-tenth of the last transacted price.
Where the amount of a claim in an action under subsection (1) exceeds the prescribed limit, the consumer may abandon the excess and thereafter —
the amount of the claim is deemed to be within the prescribed limit;
the consumer must not recover in that action an amount exceeding the prescribed limit; and
an order of the court in relation to that action is in full discharge of all demands in respect of that cause of action.
The prescribed limit mentioned in this section is $30,000 or any other amount that the Minister may, by order in the Gazette, prescribe.
Any party to an action in a court under subsection (1) may, at any time, apply to that court to stay the proceedings so far as the proceedings relate to an unfair practice in respect of which an application has been made under section 9 against the same supplier.
unfair practice
“unfair practice” means an unfair practice within the meaning of section 4;
The court to which an application under subsection (7) has been made may, if the court is satisfied that the determination in respect of the application under section 9 will be material to the action under subsection (1), make an order, upon such terms as the court thinks fit, staying the proceedings so far as the proceedings relate to that unfair practice.
Where no party to the proceedings has taken any further step in the proceedings for a period of 2 or more years after an order staying the proceedings has been made, the court may, on its own motion, make an order discontinuing the proceedings without prejudice to the right of any of the parties to apply for the discontinued proceedings to be reinstated.