At a lunch hosted by the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce last week (Disclosure: I'm a Committee member), ACCC Chairman Graeme Samuel delivered a clear no-nonsense summary of the ACCC's enforcement policy: co-operate (and fix the systems or compliance failure) and we won't litigate against you, but if you adopt a confrontationist approach we'll fight you all the way and seek a criminal penalty where available.
He was equally frank in saying that whilst the ACCC will protect businesses and consumers from fraud and misleading conduct it could not protect them from apathy or their own stupidity.
The official ACCC Media Release focussed on issues relating to Australia's $80 billion a year franchising industry :
"Those who blatantly deceive
potential small business owners with offers of bogus or unworkable
small business 'opportunities' are effectively criminals and can expect
no leniency from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. "
But before he spoke about franchising he spoke about some current topics:
1. The settlement with Telstra over its broadband pricing: he was adamant that the penalty was fair taking into account the ACCC's difficulty in getting actual evidence of loss caused by Telstra dropping its DSL broadband retail price below its wholesale price. He was equally adamant that while Telstra's dropping of its retail price helped the dramatic take up in broadband, Telstra had acknowledged that its wholesale price was too high by dropping it twice in the last 12 months.
He said the telecommunications industry took up about 15-20% of his time. It is currently the greatest area of complaints. He identified provision of content for 3G telephony as a possible future competition issue.
2. Cartels: he said cartels were invisible but cost the community a fortune. Curently more than 25 cartels are being investigated, half of which have been identified by whistleblowers.
3. Small business protection: ACCC will protect small business from thuggish behaviour and bullying but won't protect small business from vigorous competition. Collective negotiating by small businesses is OK (if first authorised by the ACCC).
4.Mergers: The ACCC approves 196 out of 200 mergers each year. Their concern is that whilst they want an informal process it must be transparent so the public is not mislead.