Competition & Consumer Protection

The ACCC has delayed its decision on whether to greenlight Coles’ plans to acquire milk processing plants from Saputo, after expressing competition concerns about the $105 million deal.

The corporate regulator has taken the country’s largest superannuation fund, AustralianSuper, to court for allegedly causing $69 million in losses to customers by failing to merge multiple superannuation accounts.

Perth-based homebuilder BGC Housing Group will face a class action on behalf of thousands of home owners who allege they have been harmed by lengthy construction delays.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has taken eHarmony Inc to court, alleging the dating site misled users about its advertised ‘free dating’ membership and that its automatic renewal was a “subscription trap”. 

Telco Swift Networks has been hit with a $1.2 million penalty for bid rigging and price fixing in the tender process for supplying IT and communications equipment for three Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals mining projects in WA’s Pilbara region.

A class action against Volkswagen over allegedly deadly Takata airbags has failed a second time after an appeals court found “a merely speculative” risk of rupture was not enough to find the vehicles unacceptable.

The consumer regulator has asked a judge to impose penalties of almost $10 million  against Honda Australia for misleading the customers of two former authorised dealerships, a penalty up to 10 times what the car maker says it should pay.

A judge has order ACBF Funeral Plans to pay $1.2 million for misleading its First Nations customers, a penalty less than one-fifth the fine sought by ASIC.

Qantas has responded to ACCC proceedings alleging it sold thousands of tickets on cancelled flights, saying the period in which the alleged unlawful conduct occurred was one of “well-publicised upheaval” for airlines.

The ACCC will seek a record penalty of more than $250 million against Qantas for selling tickets on cancelled flights, saying companies were not “sufficiently” scared of the consequences of misleading consumers.