The Economic Regulation of Transport Act, 2024 (Act No. 6 of 2024)Chapter 4 : Establishment of InstitutionsPart A : Transport Economic Regulator43. Relations with other regulatory authorities |
| (1) | The Regulator must— |
| (a) | negotiate and conclude an agreement with the Competition Commission to coordinate and harmonise the exercise of jurisdiction over competition matters, and to ensure consistent application of the principles of this Act; and |
| (b) | liaise with any entity that has jurisdiction over safety issues within the transportation sector in order to harmonise the exercise of jurisdiction over transportation matters. |
| (2) | At any time, the Regulator, on its own initiative or in response to a request from the Minister in terms of section 45(1)— |
| (a) | may request the Competition Commission to consider whether particular entities, markets, facilities or services within the transport sector are failing to function competitively or are characterised by anti-competitive abuses; or |
| (b) | conduct a market inquiry— |
| (i) | if it has reasonable grounds to suspect that any feature or combination of features of the market within any transport sector prevents, distorts or restricts competition or leads to anti-competitive outcomes within that market or the economy; or |
| (ii) | to achieve the purposes of this Act. |
| (3) | The Regulator must, at least 20 business days before the commencement of a market inquiry, publish a notice in the Gazette— |
| (a) | announcing the establishment of the market inquiry; |
| (b) | setting out the terms of reference for the market inquiry; and |
| (c) | inviting members of the public to provide information to the market inquiry. |
| (4) | The Regulator may conduct a market inquiry in any manner but, for greater certainty, the provisions of sections 57 to 60, read with the changes required by the context, apply to the conduct of the market inquiry in terms of subsection (2), and to the publication of the report of a market inquiry in terms of subsection (8). |
| (5) | The terms of reference referred to in subsection (3) must include, at a minimum— |
| (a) | a statement of the scope of the inquiry; and |
| (b) | the time within which it is expected to be completed. |
| (6) | The Regulator may amend the terms of reference referred to in subsection (3), including the scope of the inquiry, or the time within which it is expected to be completed, by a further notice in the Gazette. |
| (7) | The Regulator must complete a market inquiry by publishing a report contemplated in subsection (8), within the time set out in the terms of reference contemplated in subsection (3). |
| (8) | Upon completing a market inquiry, the Regulator must— |
| (a) | publish a report of the inquiry in the Gazette; and |
| (b) | submit the report to the Minister with or without recommendations. |
| (9) | The recommendations to the Minister contemplated in subsection (8)(b) may include— |
| (a) | a change in the application of the Act as contemplated in section 4(2); |
| (b) | recommendations for new or amended policy, legislation or regulations; or |
| (c) | recommendations to other regulatory authorities. |
| (10) | On the basis of information obtained during a market inquiry, the Regulator may— |
| (a) | initiate a complaint in accordance with section 15(1), with or without conducting any further investigation; |
| (b) | initiate and refer a complaint directly to the Council without further investigation; |
| (c) | take any other action within its powers in terms of this Act recommended in the report of the market inquiry; or |
| (d) | take no further action. |
| (11) | The Regulator may— |
| (a) | advise and receive advice from any regulatory authority; |
| (b) | liaise with any regulatory authority on matters of common interest and, without limiting the generality of this power, may monitor, require necessary information from, exchange information with, and receive information from, any such authority pertaining to— |
| (i) | matters of common interest; or |
| (ii) | a specific complaint or investigation; |
| (c) | negotiate agreements with any regulatory authority to co-ordinate and harmonise the exercise of jurisdiction over the economic regulation of transport within the relevant industry or sector, and to ensure the consistent application of the principles of this Act; and |
| (d) | participate in the proceedings of any regulatory authority. |
| (12) | A regulatory authority that, in terms of any public regulation, exercises jurisdiction over transport matters within a particular industry or sector— |
| (a) | may negotiate agreements with the Regulator, as anticipated in subsection (11)(c); and |
| (b) | may exercise its jurisdiction by way of such an agreement in respect of a particular matter within its jurisdiction. |
| (13) | The President may assign to the Regulator any duty of the Republic to exchange information with a similar foreign agency in terms of an international agreement relating to the purposes of this Act. |
| (14) | The Regulator may liaise with any foreign or international authorities having any objects similar to the functions and powers of the Regulator. |