| (a) | The Minister must make regulations including different regulations in respect of different categories of complaints or investigations by the Ombud, regarding— |
| (i) | any matter which is required or permitted under this Act to be regulated by regulation; |
| (ii) | the category of small enterprises qualifying as complainants; |
| (iii) | the types of complaints justiciable by the Ombud; |
| (iv) | the rights of complainants in connection with complaints, including the manner of submitting a complaint to the Ombud; |
| (v) | the rights and duties of any other party to the complaint on receipt of a complaint, particularly in connection with the furnishing of replies to the complainant; |
| (vi) | the rights of a complainant to submit a complaint to the Ombud where the complainant is not satisfied with a reply received from the party concerned; (vii) the circumstances under which the Ombud may dismiss a complaint without consideration of its merits; and |
| (viii) | the reasonable time limit for any aspect of the proceedings before the Ombud and the extension of any time limit; |
| (b) | the payment to the Office by a party involved in a complaint submitted to the Ombud, of case fees in respect of the consideration of the complaint by the Ombud; or |
| (c) | any other administrative or procedural matter necessary or expedient for the better achievement of the objects of this Chapter, but which is not inconsistent with a provision of this Act. |
| (a) | ensure that no regulation made under subsection (1) undermines or affects the independence of the Ombud in any material way; and |
| (b) | publish the regulations made under subsection (1) in the Gazette. |
Section 17S inserted by section 5 of the National Small Enterprise Amendment Act, 2024 (Act No. 21 of 2024), GG50965, Notice No. 5049, dated 23 July 2024]
