The Federal Government is pledging a number of reforms to consumer protection, including a crackdown on deceptive hidden fees, subscriptions that are hard to cancel, and false assertions that a buyer only has a “limited time” to purchase a product.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers flagged consumer law reform, claiming “dodgy practices” — used in the concert, hotel and airline industry — were making the cost-of-living crisis worse.
Among the practices targeted will be hidden fees added during the purchasing process, making cancelling a paid subscription confusing or challenging, and “dynamic pricing,” when the cost changes throughout the transaction process.
The announcement comes as the parent company of Ticketmaster, Live Nation, faces a potential lawsuit from customers who claim the company increased the cost of concerts and sporting events as they became more popular.
The tactic — which has also been used by the company’s rival Ticketek — was employed in selling tickets to the Australian Open, Formula One Grand Prix and Green Day concerts, the ABC reported.
The Government will also look at stopping companies hiding information from customers, or falsely claiming a product is about to sell out and that they have a limited time to purchase.
Businesses that make themselves difficult to contact when a customer has a problem and who require customers to set up an account with unnecessary information are also in the Government’s sights.
A consultation paper has been released and is now open for feedback, with the Treasury Department tasked with examining how the changes can be implemented in law.
Actions taken are set to include specific bans on unfair selling tactics.
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