The Competition Commission has warned makers of smartphones, appliances and other electronics that blocking independent repairers could break the Competition Act.
The warning is in the commission’s final Guidelines on Repair, Service and Maintenance Aftermarkets, which were announced on Monday, TechCentral reported.
The guidelines cover mobile phones, tablets, gaming consoles and televisions. They also cover washing machines, tumble dryers, medical devices, and backup power and water systems.
Motor vehicles are not included. They already fall under separate automotive aftermarket guidelines that the commission brought in during 2021.
The commission said harmful practices include blocking access to spare parts or repair information. It also listed stopping independent repairers from entering or growing in the market.
Pressuring consumers not to use independent repairers was also named as a possible problem, the commission said.
The guidelines also take aim at a practice known as parts pairing, although they do not use that name. Parts pairing happens when software links a part to one specific device.
Some software stops a new part from working until the manufacturer switches it on. Some devices show warning messages after a repair by an outside technician.
Depending on the product and market, the commission will treat both as indirect limits on access to spare parts. The guidelines say such limits will be “a priority for investigation and enforcement”.
There are exceptions. Controls on parts linked to safety or security, such as anti-theft, authentication and battery systems, will not normally count as limits.
This only applies if the controls are used in a fair, open and equal way. Accredited independent repairers must also get access on terms as good as those given to the maker’s own repairers.
The commission said the guidelines are not binding and “do not create obligations beyond those already contained in the act”.
However, the act says the Competition Tribunal must consider these guidelines when it sets a penalty. It must check whether the conduct is much the same as conduct the guidelines describe.
The rules mainly apply to repairs that consumers pay for themselves because the fault is not covered by a warranty.
The commission said it will look at each complaint on its own facts. It will weigh reasons such as consumer safety, protecting intellectual property and following other laws.
In May, TechCentral reported that South Africa had no right to repair framework for consumer electronics. That was more than two years after industry groups started asking for one.
The European Union already has binding rules. Since June 2025, phone and tablet makers there must keep main spare parts available for at least seven years after a model stops being sold.
The EU rule allows parts pairing. But makers must give professional repairers the software needed to make a paired part work within three working days of a request.
A separate EU repair directive took effect in member states from 31 July. It says makers must repair products such as phones, televisions and washing machines on request, for free or at a reasonable price.
South Africa’s guidelines cover more products than the EU directive, including medical devices and backup power systems. But they depend on case by case enforcement of competition law, not fixed duties.
The commission has asked repairers to report manufacturers that act in an anticompetitive way or make it harder for them to offer their services.
Source: this article is based on reporting by TechCentral. Image: TechCentral. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Technology desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Werner Jacobs covers technology for Tzaneen Voice. Werner reports on mobile networks, data prices, internet access, smartphones, apps, AI, cybersecurity and South African tech companies. Each story explains what a new product, price change or policy means for ordinary users in South Africa.