ACCC

The consumer watchdog is challenging a court ruling that found Mazda’s treatment of customers with defective vehicles was “appalling” but did not amount to unconscionable conduct.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has been asked to investigate Qantas’ “unworkable” flight credit redemption scheme, which consumer group Choice says places unreasonable hurdles in the way of travellers trying to get a refund or redeem vouchers.

The maker of the popular Invisalign dental aligners may soon face a cross-claim from competitor SmileDirectClub, which it sued for allegedly misleading consumers about the cost and efficacy of its direct-to-consumer teeth alignment kits. 

A judge has rejected an application by training provider Captain Cook College to postpone the hearing of its appeal in a case won by the ACCC, saying the company’s inability to fund the appeal was “largely a problem of [its] own making.”

The ACCC has ended its three-year investigation into Qantas Airways’ 19.9 per cent stake in ‘fly in fly out’ airline Alliance Aviation without enforcement action.

The ACCC has expressed preliminary concerns that Spirit Super and Palisade Investment Partners’ proposed $1.2 billion acquisition of the Port of Geelong could substantially lessen competition in Victoria for the supply of bulk cargo port services.

Peters Ice Cream has been hit with a $12 million penalty after admitting to entering an anti-competitive exclusive agreement for distribution of its single serve ice creams to service stations and convenience stores across Australia.

The ACCC has refused to authorise a patent settlement and license agreement between Bristol-Myers Squibb unit Celgene and two generic drug makers who sued to invalidate the patents for its blockbuster cancer drug Revlimid, saying it could distort competition between generic drug makers.

Tech companies will be held responsible for harmful disinformation and misinformation on their platforms under new laws that will be introduced in the second half of the year.

The consumer regulator has initiated court proceedings alleging Facebook technology allowed scam cryptocurrency ads featuring celebrities to target susceptible users and that the social media giant failed to take adequate steps to remove them.