Introduction
This knowledge article provides guidance on the meaning of ‘CDR consumer complaint’ and how records of complaints should be kept and maintained, and reported under rules 9.3 and 9.4 of the Competition and Consumer (Consumer Data Right) Rules 2020 (CDR Rules) respectively.[1]
‘CDR consumer complaint’ means any expression of dissatisfaction made by a CDR consumer to or about a CDR participant, or a CDR representative of a CDR participant that relates to:
- that person’s obligations under or compliance with Part IVD (Consumer Data Right) of the Competition and Consumer Act (CCA), the CDR Rules or binding data standards; or
- that person’s provision to the CDR consumer of the goods or services in respect of which the consumer granted consent under Part 4 of the CDR Rules (Consumer data requests made by accredited persons)
for which a response or resolution could reasonably be expected.[2] A CDR participant is a data holder (DH) or an accredited data recipient (ADR) of CDR data.[3]
A CDR participant must keep and maintain records of CDR consumer complaints made to or about them.[4] For ADRs who are also CDR representative principals, this includes complaints made to or about each CDR representative.[5]
A CDR participant must also keep and maintain records and report on ‘CDR complaint data’.[6] ‘CDR complaint data’ means:
- the number of CDR consumer complaints received by the CDR participant
- the number of CDR consumer complaints for each complaint type into which the CDR participant categorises complaints in accordance with its complaints handling process
- the number of CDR consumer complaints resolved
- the average number of days taken to resolve CDR consumer complaints through internal dispute resolution
- the number of CDR consumer complaints referred to a recognised external dispute resolution scheme
- the number of CDR consumer complaints resolved by external dispute resolution, and
- in relation to a CDR participant that is a data holder – the number of CDR product data complaints received.[7]
For ADRs who are also CDR representative principals, records must be kept and maintained, and reports must be provided for each CDR representative.[8]
Identifying relevant complaints
CDR participants should take a proactive approach to identifying complaints. For example, there may be a ‘CDR consumer complaint’ and therefore a requirement to keep and maintain records of the complaint even where the CDR consumer:
- has not expressly stated the word ‘complaint’ or ‘dispute’
- has not made their complaint through traditional channels such as via phone or in writing.
In these situations, a complaint should be recorded if it satisfies one of the limbs of the definition of ‘CDR consumer complaint’ and a response or resolution could be ‘reasonably expected’ – that is, if the expression is raised in a way that indicates the CDR consumer expects the CDR participant to respond and/or resolve the issue.
There may be situations where an expression of dissatisfaction is raised in a way where a response or resolution may not be reasonably expected. This may include feedback provided in surveys or reports intended solely to bring a matter to a CDR participant’s attention. Therefore, this would not be a CDR consumer complaint under the CDR Rules.
To or about a CDR participant or a CDR representative
CDR participants should keep and maintain, report, and address and respond to CDR consumer complaints that are not only made directly to them (e.g., by phone or email), but also those that come to their attention where the complainant is identifiable and contactable. This is the ACCC’s view of the reference to ‘to or about’ in the definition of ‘CDR consumer complaint’.
This may include posts that meet the definition of ‘CDR consumer complaint’ on a social media channel or account owned or controlled by the CDR participant that is the subject of the post.
For ADRs who are also CDR representative principals, this may include:
- posts about the CDR representative on social media channels or accounts owned or controlled by the CDR representative principal or CDR representative
- CDR consumer complaints made to the CDR representative principal about a CDR representative.
Examples
Scenario | Guidance |
Complaints made about a CDR representative’s goods or services in respect of which the CDR consumer granted consent |
While the parties to a CDR representative arrangement can agree on how to conduct the internal dispute resolution (IDR) process, the obligation to meet the IDR requirements sits with the CDR representative principal.[9] Accordingly, assuming a response or resolution was reasonably expected, records of these types of complaints must be kept and maintained and reported under the CDR Rules by the CDR representative principal of the CDR representative. |
Comments made by employees while testing an ADR’s or CDR representative’s goods or services |
The ACCC generally would not expect records of these types of comments to be kept and maintained and reported under the CDR Rules, where the comments are provided by persons in their capacities as employees rather than arm’s length consumers of the ADR or CDR representative. While an employee might expect issues raised in their comments to be rectified in this scenario, they are not expecting a response to any specific complaint. |
Complaints about an ADR’s or CDR representative’s goods or services in respect of which the CDR consumer granted consent, where the issue originated from a DH and required resolution by the DH |
Assuming a response or resolution was reasonably expected, the ACCC generally expects the ADR or CDR representative principal (in the case of CDR representatives) that receives or otherwise becomes aware of these complaints to keep and maintain records and report these types of complaints, even if the issue originated from a DH and required resolution by the DH (e.g., data quality issues). The ADR or CDR representative principal could categorise these types of complaints as complaints requiring DH resolution if this accords with its complaints handling process. For example, in its rule 9.4 report, the ADR or CDR representative principal could indicate “50 complaints about data quality where the issue originated and required resolution by a data holder”. See paragraph (b) of the definition of ‘CDR complaint data’ in rule 1.7(1). A DH would also generally be expected to record and report these CDR consumer complaints if, for example:
|
General feedback provided to an ADR or CDR representative about CDR more broadly (e.g., the datasets available for sharing) |
General feedback about CDR (as opposed to the ADR’s or CDR representative’s goods or services or compliance with the CDR framework) may not be a CDR consumer complaint which needs to be kept and maintained and reported under the CDR Rules. |
Reports made to an ADR or CDR representative intended solely to bring a matter to its attention |
For example, a budgeting app may have a function which allows a CDR consumer to ‘flag’ or report potential issues such as data inaccuracy (e.g., merchant name is incorrect). This may not be a CDR consumer complaint which needs to be kept and maintained and reported under the CDR Rules if a response or resolution would not be reasonably expected in the particular circumstances. |
Example rule 9.4 reporting forms can be found here.
Important notice
The information in this publication is for general guidance only. It does not constitute legal or other professional advice, and should not be relied on as a statement of the law in any jurisdiction. Because it is intended only as a general guide, it may contain generalisations. You should obtain professional advice if you have a specific concern.
The ACCC has made every reasonable effort to provide current and accurate information, but it does not make any guarantees regarding the accuracy, currency or completeness of that information.
Parties who wish to re-publish or otherwise use the information in this publication must check this information for currency and accuracy with the ACCC prior to publication.
This should be done prior to each publication edition, as ACCC guidance and relevant transitional legislation frequently change. Such queries should be addressed to accc-cdr@accc.gov.au
[1] The definition of ‘CDR consumer complaint’ is also relevant to Privacy Safeguard 1. See the OAIC’s Guide to developing a Consumer Data Right policy and Chapter 1 of the Privacy Safeguard Guidelines (Privacy Safeguard 1 – Open and transparent management of CDR data).
[2] See definition in rule 1.7(1) of the CDR Rules.
[3] See section 56AL of the CCA.
[4] See rule 9.3(1)(fa) of the CDR Rules for DHs and rule 9.3(2)(da) of the CDR Rules for ADRs.
[5] See rule 9.3(2A)(ga) of the CDR Rules.
[6] See rules 9.3(1)(f) and 9.4(1)(b) of the CDR Rules for DHs and rules 9.3(2)(d) and 9.4(2)(b) of the CDR Rules for ADRs.
[7] See definition in rule 1.7(1) of the CDR Rules.
[8] See rules 9.3(2A)(g) and 9.4(2A)(a) of the CDR Rules.
[9] See rule 5.12(1)(b) of the CDR Rules.
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