Category: Pricing

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

First published by Author on March 21, 2019 in the following categories: Cartels Investigations Price Fixing Pricing and tagged with cartels | cma | competition law | price fixing | pricing

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 secondary ticketing investigation updated

First published by Author on January 18, 2019 in the following categories: Investigations Latest Price Hikes Pricing and tagged with cma | pricing | secondary ticketing

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.

Random Argos price changes?

First published by Author on January 04, 2019 in the following categories: Price Hikes Pricing and tagged with comparison sites | pricing | retail

investigation into retail banking competition

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.

Loyalty penalty CMA investigation concludes

The massive loyalty penalty CMA investigation – deemed a ‘super complaint’ – has resulted in a set of reforms to stop the issue affecting people.

The investigation found “damaging practices by firms, which exploit unsuspecting customers”. This issue is estimated to equate to a cost to the consumer in the region of £4bn per year. There are thought to be millions of people affected by loyalty penalties.

The loyalty penalty CMA investigation looked at five markets: savings; insurance; mortgages; mobile phone contracts; and broadband. New regulatory rules are set to be introduced to stamp out the loyalty penalty endemic.

The Heathrow parking competition infringements case

First published by Author on December 14, 2018 in the following categories: Industry Latest Price Fixing Pricing and tagged with cma | price fixing | pricing

A hefty fine has been issued in the wake of the Heathrow parking competition investigation that drew to a conclusion a couple of months ago.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has issued a fine of £1.6m to Heathrow after they admitted to competition law infringements. The fine was originally £2m, but as a result of Heathrow’s cooperation and acceptance of wrongdoing, they received a leniency discount of 20%.

The investigation surrounds how parking charge rates were set in connection with the operator of Terminal 5 Hotel, Arora Group.

Huge funeral costs investigation development

First published by Author on November 29, 2018 in the following categories: Industry Investigations Latest Pricing and tagged with cma | competition law | funerals market | market abuse | pricing

There’s been a huge development in the regulator’s funeral costs investigation that we’ve been tracking for a long time now.

The Regulators, the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority), are set to move from a market study to a referral for a market investigation. Their interim report states that there are “reasonable grounds for suspecting that a feature or combination of features of a market or markets in the UK prevents, restricts or distorts competition”.

The CMA now want to look into any adverse impact on the consumer. For a huge and sensitive market that’s worth something like £2bn a year, this is big news.

Royal Mail competition fine

First published by Author on October 05, 2018 in the following categories: Market Dominance Abuse Pricing and tagged with competition law | market abuse | pricing

A Royal Mail competition fine has been issued in the sum of £50m by the UK communications regulator for abuse of a dominant market position.

Regulators Ofcom accused the Royal Mail of penalising wholesale customers over bulk mail deliveries for things like council tax demands and bank statements. They were fined for discriminating against a rival, Whistl, who were subject to contractual changes back in 2014.

These changes included price increases that led to Whistl scrapping expansion plans that cost the business millions of pounds.