Government issues consultation to crack down on ‘dodgy business practices’
The Albanese government announced it will be banning “dodgy” business practices that continuously rip off Australians in trading practices.
The government has released a consultation focused on banning unfair trading practices that “have a real hit on people’s hip pockets.”
Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said the government was looking to ban subscription traps, dynamic pricing, and drip pricing.
“The Albanese government is putting a stop to the tricky tactics used by businesses to rip off Australians. It's deceptive, unfair and un-Australian,” Jones said.
“There won’t be a consumer in the country who hasn’t had an experience with the unfair trading practices that we are planning to ban, like trying to cancel a subscription that is easy to sign up to but impossible to leave.”
According to the consultation, subscription traps would be banned under proposed changes that would require businesses to make getting out of a subscription just as simple as signing up.
Dynamic pricing was also set to be banned, and captured items where the price of a product increased during the transaction process as more people attempted to make a purchase.
Common in flight or hotel bookings, drip pricing would also be banned as it involved the advertised cost increasing when purchasing the product with mandatory fees added.
Jones said the consultation would close to submissions on 13 December and aimed to prohibit unfair trading practices, ban specific practices and introduce penalties for businesses who failed to comply.
Following the public consultation, the government revealed it planned to work with state and territory governments to introduce legislative amendments to the Australian Consumer Law.
“This will be welcome news for people who will save time and money when these practices are outlawed,” Jones said.
Consumer Policy Research Centre CEO, Erin Turner, said the consultation was a crucial step towards protecting Australians from unfair business practices that were costing people money and causing harm.
“Our research shows that 75 per cent of Australians have experienced a negative consequence when trying to cancel a subscription with far too many companies making it easy to sign up but far too hard to stop paying,” she said.
“One in 10 Australians found the unsubscribe process so hard or confusing that they’ve kept paying for a service they no longer want or need.”
In addition to subscriptions, the consultation also outlined fake stock level warnings, mandating consumers create online accounts and difficulty in accessing customer support as mechanisms to constantly rip consumers off.
“A general law against unfair trading will help people save money, protect against manipulative designs and support Australians in making informed choices,” Turner said.
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