(2) The right to commence an action under subsection (1) shall not apply where—
- (a) the amount of the claim exceeds the prescribed limit; or
- (b) there is no claim for money, and the remedy or relief sought in the action is in respect of a subject-matter the value of which exceeds the prescribed limit.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (2)(a), where the amount claimed consists of a balance not exceeding the prescribed limit after set-off of any amount claimed or recoverable by the supplier from the consumer, being a set-off admitted by the consumer in the particulars of his claim, the amount of the claim shall not be taken to exceed the prescribed limit.
(4) For the purposes of subsection (2)(b), where the subject-matter in an action is a residential property, its value shall be—
- (a) the annual value of the immovable property appearing in the Valuation List prepared under section 10 of the Property Tax Act (Cap.254);
- (b) the annual rent, or twelve times the monthly rent, payable by the tenant in respect of the immovable property (if this value is lower than the value in paragraph (a)); or
- (c) if the annual value, annual rent or monthly rent cannot be ascertained, one-tenth of the last transacted price.
(5) Where the amount of a claim in an action under subsection (1) exceeds the prescribed limit, the consumer may abandon the excess and thereafter—
- (a) the amount of the claim shall be deemed to be within the prescribed limit;
- (b) the consumer shall not recover in that action an amount exceeding the prescribed limit; and
- (c) an order of the court in relation to that action shall be in full discharge of all demands in respect of that cause of action.
(6) The prescribed limit referred to in this section shall be $20,000 or such other amount as the Minister may, by order in the Gazette, prescribe.
