Nicotine in South Africa is heavily regulated under the Tobacco Products Control Act 83 of 1993 and the Medicines and Related Substances Act, with strict restrictions, and a minimum age of 18 for purchase. This applies to online stores as well.

Minimum Age: The legal age to purchase cigarettes, tobacco, e-cigarettes, e-liquids or any other nicotine product is 18.

Sales Restrictions: It is illegal for retailers to sell these products to anyone under 18, with penalties for non-compliance.

Proxy Sales: It is an offence for adults to buy tobacco or nicotine products for someone under 18.

Challenge 25: Retailers are increasingly adopting this policy, where staff check the ID of anyone who appears under 25 to avoid selling to minors.

Online Sales: Age restrictions apply equally to online retailers, which must have systems to prevent sales to under-18s.

Why does SigmaNRG™ need to verify your age?

Because we are an online retailer - it's the law and we have a duty of care to comply! 

As such, we must ensure that all customers are age checked. For traditional retailers with physical shops this is easy to handle as the staff can apply the same Challenge 25 procedures that everybody is used to with tobacco, nicotine and alcohol, but as an online retailer and international brand we are not able to see your face so we have to conduct a digital age verification on every new customer. For this reason, we partner with AgeChecked.

Staying Compliant With AgeChecked - Our Online Age Verification Technology Partner:

Effective verification is vital to protect businesses from underage, fraudulent or prohibited customers. AgeChecked works collaboratively with us to maintain a compliant online verification solution that provides a seamless experience for all our customers globally.

 

Age Verification with AgeChecked - How does it work?

AgeChecked is able to verify against a number of data sources to deliver a high level of assurance that our customer is who they say they are and prove they are over the required legal age for any of our age-restricted products to meet the strict regulatory requirements of the UK. Depending on the information you provide, AgeChecked can perform a simple age verification to confirm you are over the legal age or a full identity check and ID scanning should it be required for any reason. We provide a seamless solution for our customers to ensure that they are able to complete their order swiftly. All our verification methods offer a simple and easy process to provide a smooth user experience.

The information must be entered correctly as it would appear on your driver’s license, electoral roll or a South Africa credit card. With this information we can verify your age and proceed with your order. Since this is simply an ID check and not a credit check, your credit score will not be affected in any way.

Your order will be placed on hold if you do not verify your age. You will be notified by our system to remind you to verify and will be provided a maximum of 7 days to complete the age verification checks. In the event you do not complete the age verification check your order will be cancelled, a refund will be processed back to the payment card used less R45.00 administration charge.

In certain instances you may also be required to to scan a physical form of ID such as a Driver’s License, Passport etc.

What AgeChecked do with the data 

IMPORTANT: SigmaNRG™ do not retain your age verification data

We understand the importance of data protection, which is why AgeChecked ensures all customers' identity is kept anonymous via their tokenised solution.  No personal data is kept on AgeChecked’s system.  As soon as the age of the customer is confirmed, AgeChecked wipes the information. With AgeChecked, our customers verify once and they’re set for life. No repeat checks, just seamless shopping every visit, unless of course there are changes in your personal details, in which case AgeChecked may require you to verify your age once again.

What Happens If My Age Can't Be Verified Automatically?

If we are unable to verify you automatically we do have a backup option for you. We will ask you to show us your official ID so we can verify your are over 18, in the same way you may be asked to show ID at a supermarket or bar.

To complete this online, we will send you a link which will take you to a secure site where you will be asked to take a photo of your ID and a selfie - so we can be sure it is your ID and not somebody else's. The process takes less than a minute, and can be completed using any smartphone, tablet or laptop that has a camera.

Why is Age Verification Important?

SigmaNRG™ Premium Nicotine Strips are not intended for non-nicotine users or children. We do not want people who don't already use nicotine to start using nicotine - that's not why we exist. SigmaNRG™ Premium Nicotine Strips are intended solely for adults looking to switch away from combustible tobacco, vapes, SNUS and nicotine pouches, to a hugely reduced risk alternative.

Not so long ago in the USA, certain brands marketed their products to children. It triggered a large youth uptake which was so concerning that many states have imposed flavour bans and online sales bans. This led to millions of adults not having access to these much safer alternatives, and we do not want to see this repeated in the UK because we believe our product can help those looking for an effective smoking cessation product and/or an alternative to smoking or vaping.

Does Age Verification Cost Me Anything?

No, age verification with AgeChecked does not cost our customers anything - we have you covered! This is solely our responsibility and duty of care as an online retailer and international brand. In the vast majority of cases age verification by AgeChecked will occur in the background and require little to no input from our customers.