ACCC institutes against Yellow Pages service

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has instituted legal proceedings against Telstra-owned Pacific Access Pty Ltd in relation to the operation and promotion of its Yellow Pages Connect 12451 telephone service.

Pacific Access Pty Ltd represents that the Yellow Pages Connect service will provide the best or closest match to search criteria specified by a consumer. These include hours of business, payment types accepted and, if the request relates to a restaurant, whether or not it is licensed. Consumers are charged $1.21 per call to call the service. If they then wish to be connected to a business they are charged a connection fee.

Pacific Access Pty Ltd also offer businesses, at additional cost, the option of being listed with Yellow Pages as a Priority Advertiser which guarantees that these businesses will be referred to consumers calling the Yellow Pages Connect service ahead of non-Priority Advertisers. The ACCC alleges that Pacific Access Pty Ltd will refer a Priority Advertiser ahead of and in preference to a non Priority Advertiser even when the non-Priority Advertiser may be a better or closer match to the search criteria given by the consumer calling the service.

It is alleged this fact is not disclosed by Pacific Access Pty Ltd to consumers using the service. As a consequence the ACCC claims Pacific Access Pty Ltd's conduct is in contravention of the Trade Practices Act.

The ACCC is seeking:

• declarations from the court the advertisements were misleading
• injunctions preventing Pacific Access Pty Ltd from making similar representations in future
• a court order requiring Pacific Access Pty Ltd to publish a corrective advertisement in the White and Yellow Pages telephone directories and web sites, informing consumers of the misleading conduct
• an injunction requiring Pacific Access Pty Ltd to disclose that Priority Advertisers get preferential treatment
• a court order requiring Pacific Access Pty Ltd to implement a corporate compliance program
  

A directions hearing for the matter is listed for 8 February 2002 at the Federal Court in Melbourne.