Displaying items by tag: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ACCC

Middle aged and older Australians suffered the brunt of scams in September with those aged 45 to 54 the hardest hit financially during the month and the aged 65 and over reporting the highest number of scams at 5,642.

The chief of Australia’s competition watchdog, Rod Sims believes that the most hotly debated issue in competition law around the world is whether ex ante regulation of particular digital platforms is needed.

Australians have lost over $70 million to bogus investment scams in the first half of this year and a massive increase in losses are predicted by the end of the year, according to the consumer watchdog the ACCC.

The competition watchdog the ACCC has granted interim authorisation to allow the Australian Banking Association (ABA) and banks to continue to work together on a variety of existing COVID-19 related relief packages, so they can respond to any further outbreaks as required.

The competition regulator and enforcement agency the ACCC is seeking views on a court enforceable undertaking which has been offered by Industry Committee Administration (ICA), the company representing three Australian payment services providers seeking to merge.

Scammers have stolen more than $7.2 million from Australians so far this year by gaining access to home computers, an increase of 184% compared to the same period last year.

Major falls in wholesale electricity costs and new laws requiring retailers to pass on cuts are likely to result in lower electricity bills in 2021, despite residential consumption rising by 10% and household bills increasing by 7% in 2020, according to competition regulator the ACCC.

Australia’s competition regulator the ACCC says a new regulatory model for the National Broadband Network is one step closer after a telecommunications industry roundtable last week brought together NBN Co, broadband retailers, industry groups, consumer representatives and government.

Millions of Australian consumers will pay more for their mobile phone plans after recent price increases by all three big telco companies, according to new analysis by the competition regulator, the ACCC.

Australian electronic goods retailer digiDirect – trading as Digital Imaging Express Pty Ltd – has paid $39,240 in penalties after the ACCC issued the company three infringement notices for allegedly misleading consumers about the details of advertised sales in breach of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL).

Independent petrol retail chains Speedway, Metro Petroleum, United, Vibe and FuelXpress had the cheapest petrol in Australia’s eight capital cities in 2020, according to a new report by Australia’s competition watchdog.

Community legal centre Financial Rights Legal Centre has called on the Australian Government to respect the rights of joint bank account holders to control their own data.

The proposed acquisition of Slack Technologies by Salesforce will not be opposed by the competition regulator the ACCC.

The competition watchdog, the ACCC, has sought leave to appear at the hearing of Epic Games appeal to the Full Federal Court against an earlier Court decision to stay Epic’s proceedings against Apple.

Modern tractors, harvesters and other agricultural machinery use complex computerised systems that involve embedded software and specific tools and parts, and the competition regulator the ACCC says purchasers of the machinery would benefit from more independent competition in servicing and repair markets.

ACCC Commissioner Sarah Court has been appointed to the position of Deputy Chair at Australia’s national corporate, markets, financial services and consumer credit regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC),

Australia’s competition regulator, the ACCC, has granted interim authorisation for Country Press Australia (CPA) members to collectively negotiate with Facebook and Google over payments to publishers for their news content that appears on the platforms.  

Australians have already lost over $288,000 to vehicle scams in the first quarter of this year, more than all losses reported to Scamwatch in 2019, and scammers have now begun impersonating defence personnel to con their victims, according to the consumer watchdog, the ACCC.

Australia’s competition watchdog the ACCC says it is not opposed to the MYOB Invest Co acquisition of GreatSoft, after deeming that the transaction is not likely to substantially lessen competition.

Australia’s competition watchdog the ACCC will not oppose the acquisition of comparison website, Compare the Market, by Innovation Holdings Australia that would result in it holding up to 35% of shares in iSelect, a major competitor to Compare the Market.