The following are recent amendments to laws, proposed amendments to laws, and case laws which may have a significant impact on the field of aviation:
To read the full update in Hebrew click here
Airports Authority Regulations (Fees) (Temporary Order) 5777-2016
In September 2016, the Knesset Finance Committee approved the Airports Authority Regulations (Fees) (Temporary Order) 5777-2016. The regulations provide that fees will not be collected from an owner of an aircraft for landing, passenger entry service, air control services and departing passenger services for civilian aviation at the Ovda Airport. In contrast, a parking fee will continue to be charged. The regulations came into force on October 1, 2016, and will apply until an order is published pursuant to Section 5(A)(4) of the Airports Authority Law 5737-1977 on the termination of the provision of services to the civilian aviation of Ovda Airport. A transcript from the meeting of the Knesset Finance Committee shows that the purpose of the regulations is to encourage and strengthen Tourism in Eilat.
Proposed Consumer Protection Law (amendment – dealer who is not a supplier) 5777-2016
On October 31, 2016, the Proposed Consumer Protection Law (amendment – dealer who is not a supplier) 5777-2016 (hereinafter: the “Proposed Law”) was introduced. The private members bill deals with an amendment to Sections 14C and 14F of the Consumer Protection Law 5741-1981 (hereinafter: the “Consumer Protection Law”) which deals with the cancellation of a transaction.
The background of the Proposed Law is the provisions of the Consumer Protection Law on the cancellation of a transaction which establish that the consumer is entitled to cancel any transaction in exchange for the symbolic cancellation fee of NIS 100 or 5% of the cost of the transaction. Thus, in a case where there is a transaction between an agent who is not a service provider and the service provider is not Israeli, the law does not allow it to collect from the consumer the cancellation fee that is set by the service provider who is outside of Israel and he is forced to cover the gap in cancellation fees at his own expense. Charging the agent the gap in cancellation fees causes harm to the rights of small business owners.
Therefore, the Proposed Law establishes that in cases where the transaction is done in the fields of hospitality, vacation and travel with an Israeli dealer who is serving as an agent, and the service provider is not Israeli, the provisions in the law on the cancellation of transactions will not apply. Pursuant to the Proposed Law, the cancellation conditions and the cancellation fee will be in accordance with the service provider’s cancellation conditions but only if the dealer has informed the consumer on the cancellation conditions of the service provider prior to entering the transaction.
Proposed Consumer Protection Law (amendment – emphasis of total price in advertisements) 5777-2016
On November 21, a private members bill was introduced on the matter of emphasizing the total price in advertisements. The bill proposes to add to the provisions of Section 17D of the Consumer Protection Law, which deals with advertising and the presentation of prices of products and services, and to obligate dealers to present the total price of the offered product or service in the advertisement with special emphasis. It is proposed that the size of the letters or the number of the total price will not be less than the maximum size of the letters or the numbers which appear in the advertisement. This obligation shall apply to the dealer’s advertisements whether additional details regarding the price were indicated or not.
Proposed Consumer Protection Law (amendment – equalizing the conditions of customer and service provider on the matter of returning goods) 5777-2016
On November 7, a private members bill was introduced dealing with the equalization the conditions of customer and service provider on the return of goods. The context of the proposed bill is the current state of affairs where there are differences in the periods of time that the law provides for the return of payment for a cancelled transaction by the customer or by the service provider. Whereas the period within which the service provider is obligated to grant a refund to the customer subsequently to the cancellation of the transaction is defined in terms of “business days” the obligation of the customer is defined by the term “days”. In light of this, the bill proposes equalizing between the transaction cancellation conditions which apply on the customer and those which apply on the service provider and to define by business days the period of time provided for the carrying out of the obligation to refund the customer’s funds.
Small Claims (Jerusalem Magistrates Court) 30974-07-16 Eli Cohen v. Gulliver Tourism Ltd. (Published in the Nevo Law Repository, October 10, 2016)
In October 2016, the Small Claims Court in Jerusalem (the Honorable Justice Michal Hirschfeld) granted the claim in part in the matter of Small Claims (Jerusalem Magistrates Court) 30974-07-16 Eli Cohen v. Gulliver Tourism Ltd. (Published in the Nevo Law Repository October, 10, 2016).
Under the Consumer Protection Law it is possible to cancel a reservation for flight tickets to a destination outside of Israel up to seven says before the date of the flight which are not rest days. In the judgment, the Court reviewed the question whether the seven days in which it is possible to cancel the flight ticket are “full days”, of 24 hours each, counted back from the hour of the flight and until the hour of the cancellation or rather are the seven days counted back from the day of the flight and until the day of the notice of the cancellation regardless of the hour of the flight or the hour of the notice of the cancellation.
The Court held that the interpretation that should be preferred is that which enables the cancellation of a flight ticket reservation up to seven days which are not rest days before the date of the flight. The section does not establish that such days are full days and there is no reference to hours. Thus, the interpretation of “within a number of days” does not address the hours at the beginning or at the end of the period under discussion.
For further information, please feel free to contact:
Adv. Shirly Kazir | skazir@ fbclawyers.com | +972.3.694.1348
