Decimal Change Cost Dispute

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30975, 3 February 1966, Page 5

Decimal Change Cost Dispute

"The Press’" Special Service

WELLINGTON, February 2.

A dispute has arisen between some office machine companies and the Government over the charges to be made for converting machines to decimal currency.

The general manager of Burroughs, Ltd., Mr J. I. Mar tin, said that his- firm had been threatened with the invocation of the Control of Prices Act. The Government is also believed to have instructed the prices division of the Industries and Commerce Department to inquire into the prices proposed by the company.

Mr Martin said that his company had offered to supply the parts needed to convert machines to the decimal system at the landed cost. “We don’t normally sell parts,” he said. “Our only dealing in them is concerned with machines we are servicing under contract.” The Government, he said, was applying a theoretical argument, believing that because such large quantities of replacement parts were needed, and thus an immediate market available, the charge should be less than for normal replacement parts. “Discount” "In fact,” said Mr Martin, “our offer to sell them at landed cost represents a considerable discount because if we were to go into the retail parts business we would certainly want, a higher sum for them.” Mr Martin said the manufacturing of parts for New Zealand in Britain had thrown considerable strain on the company’s resources as factories were working at peak to produce new machines. He said the company had offered to send a Government official to Britain to check the company’s pricing, but the offer had not yet been accepted.

Officials of the Decimal Currency Board and the Government are elated that planning for the change-over has shown that it should be possible to

reduce the net cost to about Elm.

Partial, instead of complete conversion of machines, is expected to cut the number, and consequently the cost, of replacement parts by up to 80 per cent. Savings In labour overheads will, it is estimated, be about 50 per cent. Officers of the board say that in the case of some machines the reduction in parts needed will mean a fall off in costs from about £l4O to about £l5.

Under the partial conversion plan, the pence column on machines will be suppressed and the shillings column used to designate cents. With the pounds column being used for dollars the only difference between a partially and fully converted machine will be one less digit in the dollars column. Used Machines

About £500,000 is expected to be saved as a result of a plan the board has to buy about 2000 used and unwanted f.s.d. machines from Australian banks. These machines Will be lent to business houses while their machines are being converted. Fresh assessments off the likely cost of machine conversion and compensation payments place the likely total at about £4.75m. Returns from the withdrawal off existing coins, the sale of metal and the introduction of new coinage, which will be lighter, are now expected to total about £3.75m.