The ACCC has issued advice for consumers and businesses on their rights and obligations if events, flights or travel services are cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), or if people wish to cancel their travel plans.
If events, flights or other travel services such as cruises are cancelled, the ACCC expects refunds or other remedy such as a credit note or voucher will be offered in most circumstances.
The ACCC will closely monitor retail petrol price movements in Australia in the coming weeks to determine if the recent falls in international crude oil and refined petrol prices are flowing through to consumers.
This follows a decline in the price of crude oil and refined petrol since early January 2020 and, in particular, sharp falls in crude oil prices last week.
B.A.R Group Pty Ltd (BAR Group) has paid a penalty of $12,600 after the ACCC issued an infringement notice for allegedly misleading consumers about the running power of a portable generator.
In September 2019, BAR Group advertised on its website that its 123 G8100-HELT portable generator was capable of achieving a running power of 6 kW.
The ACCC alleges that BAR Group’s representation was false or misleading, in breach of the Australian Consumer Law.
Australians under 25 lost over $5 million to scams in 2019 and reports made from this age group are increasing faster than older generations.
In 2019, around 12,000 (7.15 per cent) reports made to Scamwatch were from people under the age of 25, an increase of 11 per cent compared to 2018 figures. Reports from this age group increased by 10 percentage points more than any other age group.
“Scammers don’t discriminate based on age and the wide range of scams reported by this age group is concerning,” ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said.
Following the Treasurer’s consent, the Competition and Consumer (Consumer Data Right) Rules 2020 (the Rules) commenced on 6 February 2020. This is a key development in progressing Consumer Data Right.
The Rules set the foundational framework for how Consumer Data Right operates in the banking sector. Under the Rules, the four major banks are required to share product reference data in a standardised format, facilitating better product comparisons.
The ACCC will allow Qantas, BP Australia and independent BP petrol stations to collectively participate in the BP Rewards, Qantas Frequent Flyer and Qantas Business Reward programs for five years.
The authorised arrangements include allowing BP to require BP-branded petrol stations to participate in the Qantas rewards programs as a condition of new BP petrol station franchise agreements, as well as when existing agreements are renewed.