Archives
Short-term car lease market review concludes
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been looking into the short-term car lease market since last year, and the investigations have now come to a head.
Last month, the review into the practises of five major car rental companies came to a conclusion. The review had been conducted by the EU Consumer Protection Co-operation Network, which is coordinated by the CMA. Big-name firms have previously agreed to undertakings, and further changes to online booking processes are now set be made.
The review has been a follow-on from the big 2015 action involving Avis-Budget, Enterprise, Europcar, Hertz and Six. Regulators considered that more could still be done to ensure that some EU-facing websites were complaint with important consumer laws.
£7m in fines issued in office fit-out competition case
A huge £7m in total fines has been issued after five companies have admitted to breaches in the office fit-out competition case.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been investigating the design, construction and fit-out services market since 2017. In July 2018, they decided to continue their probes, and in March this year, fines have been issued and agreed.
The five companies that have admitted to breaches and will be fined are Coriolis, Fourfront, Loop, Oakley and ThirdWay.
Provisional finding in hydrocortisone competition case
There’s been a provisional finding by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the important hydrocortisone competition case, with a Statement of Objections issued.
In the coming weeks, the CMA expect written and oral representations to be made following the Statement of Objections that’s been issued.
The provisional findings of the CMA are incredibly worrying. It all comes down whether the two companies at the heart of the investigation colluded in order to charge higher prices and make bigger profits; all at the expense of our NHS, and our hard-earned tax money.
Court upholds ruling in galvanised steel tanks cartel investigations
The Court of Appeal has upheld a previous ruling obtained by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) that’s related to the galvanised steel tanks cartel case.
Supplier Balmoral Tanks were fined £130,000.00 for exchanging competitively-sensitive information with competitors, despite refusing to engage in the main cartel they’d been invited to join. They’d tried to have the ruling overturned in 2017, which failed, and we’re glad to see the Court of Appeal has upheld the initial rulings.
The galvanised steel tanks cartel case has been a huge, long-running investigation involving the CMA. Although Balmoral were not a part of the main cartel, they still infringed vital competition law.
Online hotel booking investigation update
Here’s the latest in the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) online hotel booking investigation that has been focused on consumer law compliance.
The initial investigation was launched back in October 2017, with enforcement action taken in June 2018. It’s an important one given the breadth of the online hotel booking market, and how confusing it can be. Competition in this key sector should always be healthy, and any infringements of the law cannot go unpunished.
We’re pleased to see that the latest developments in the online hotel booking investigation has seen undertakings agreed by numerous parties involved.
Brief update in the hypothyroidism tablets competition case
A brief update has been issued in the hypothyroidism tablets competition case surrounding alleged overcharging of liothyronine medication.
The liothyronine tablets are used to treat people lacking in thyroid hormones, which can lead to tiredness, slow metabolism, depression and other ailments. The CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) spent a great deal of time in 2017 gathering evidence for the case. In November 2017, a statement of objections was formally issued.
Last month, an updated statement of objections was issued by the CMA in this incredibly important investigation.
CMA initiates court action against Care UK
There’s been a huge development in the care homes consumer protection case. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has initiated court action against Care UK.
We recently blogged about the developments in the care homes consumer protection case where pre-action letters had been sent. Now, they have proceeded with court action against Care UK.
The reason for the court action is because the CMA isn’t satisfied with the response from care UK following the investigations. Although they’ve stopped charging administration fees that the CMA had deemed to be breaking consumer protection laws, they haven’t agreed to refunds. The CMA has taken issue with their stance.
Pharmaceutical competition investigation extended
The pharmaceutical competition investigation has had a key deadline extended this month. The time being allowed for the analysis of information has been moved.
The ongoing pharmaceutical competition investigation is an important one. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is looking into potential breaches of important competition law. Specifically, they’re looking at two different generic pharmaceutical drugs and whether there are illegal anti-competitive agreements and conduct in place.
This is an important sector when it comes to healthy competition. Any breaches need to be severely punished.
CMA secondary ticketing investigation updated
There has been another update in the CMA secondary ticketing investigation following on from the recent court action against Viagogo.
As of yesterday, the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) demanded that a number of the big players in the secondary ticketing market must have improved their business behaviour. This ongoing investigation and review is hugely important given the growth in touts and overcharging. This is among practices that have arguably made pricing unclear, with the consumer not being protected by the market players.
The changes that the CMA are pushing through should help to defend the consumers against unfair practices. It should ensure consumer rights are not infringed and should enforce the ticketing companies to act more responsibly.
An investigation last year reportedly indicated randomness in terms of Argos price changes, alongside Amazon, AO, John Lewis and Currys PC World.
The internet has allowed for price comparison to be a huge factor in consumer decision making. In the aftermath of Christmas, when sales are everywhere, the consumer is expecting to make some savings.
But a consumer report last year reportedly indicated some strange behaviours when it came to Argos price changes. The same was also found for Amazon, AO, John Lewis and Currys PC World as well.