Administrative Penalties (Consumer Protection Act) Regulation
This regulation says what must be included in an administrative penalty notice, how penalty amounts are set, when payment is due, what the appeal fee is, how the appeal board is composed, and the limit on costs awards.
(Consolidated up to 173/2018) ALBERTA REGULATION 135/2013 Consumer Protection Act ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES (CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT) REGULATION Table of Contents 1 Notice of administrative penalty 2 Amount of administrative penalty 3 Time for payment 4 Appeal application fee 5 Appeal board 6 Costs 8 Coming into force Notice of administrative penalty 1 A notice of an administrative penalty must contain the following information: (a) the name of the person to whom the administrative penalty is issued; (b) identification of the provision of the Act or regulation that was contravened or not complied with; (c) a description of the contravention or failure to comply identified under clause (b); (d) the amount of the administrative penalty; (e) the time period within which the administrative penalty must be paid; (f) a statement describing the right to appeal to the Minister under section 179 of the Act and the particulars of how the appeal is to be made and the time within which it must be made. Amount of administrative penalty 2 (1) Subject to section 158.1(3) of the Act and this section, the amount of an administrative penalty for a contravention or failure to comply is the amount set in accordance with this section by the Director. (2) In setting the amount of the administrative penalty for a contravention or failure to comply, the Director may consider the following factors: (a) the seriousness of the contravention or failure to comply; (b) the degree of wilfulness or negligence in the contravention or failure to comply; (c) the impact on any person adversely affected by the contravention or failure to comply; (d) whether or not the person who receives the notice of administrative penalty has a history of non‑compliance; (e) whether or not there were any mitigating factors relating to the contravention or failure to comply; (f) whether or not the person who receives the notice of administrative penalty has derived any economic benefit from the contravention or failure to comply; (g) any other factors that, in the opinion of the Director, are relevant. (3) The minimum administrative penalty that may be imposed by the Director for a contravention or failure to comply with a provision of the Act or regulations is $250. (4) The maximum administrative penalty that may be imposed for a contravention of section 111(2) or 140(2) of the Act is $2500 for each contravention. (5) The maximum administrative penalty that may be imposed for a contravention of section 132 of the Act is $25 000 for each contravention. (6) The administrative penalty that may be imposed for a contravention of section 134(1) of the Act is $250 for each contravention. (7) For continuing contraventions, the maximum administrative penalty that may be imposed for each day or part of a day on which the contravention continues is $5000. Time for payment 3 Subject to any stay that is in effect under section 180(4) of the Act, a person who is required to pay an administrative penalty shall pay the amount of the administrative penalty (a) within 30 days of the date of service of the notice of administrative penalty, or (b) within the time period specified in the notice of administrative penalty, whichever is later. Appeal application fee 4 The fee for an appeal made pursuant to section 179 of the Act is the lesser of (a) $1000, or (b) half of the amount of the administrative penalty set out in the notice of administrative penalty. Appeal board 5 Notwithstanding section 2(2) of the Appeal Board Regulation (AR 195/99), for the purposes of hearing an appeal of an administrative penalty under section 179 of the Act, an appeal board is composed of one to 3 members. Costs 6 (1) If the appellant is the successful party in an appeal, the appeal board may award costs to the appellant. (2) The costs that may be awarded under subsection (1) must not exceed the amount of the appeal application fee paid by the appellant under section 4. 7 Repealed AR 173/2018 s1. Coming into force 8 This Regulation comes into force on the coming into force of section 1(2) to (5), (8), (9) and (10) of the Protection and Compliance Statutes Amendment Act, 2012 . (NOTE: Despite section 8, this Regulation comes into force on the date it was filed — June 28, 2013; see section 2 of the Regulations Act.)