Consumer commission to focus on cartels and car clocking

Car clocking and cartels will be key areas of concern for the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) over the next 12 months, its chairwoman Isolde Goggin has said.

Speaking as the Commission’s first annual report was published, she said it had achieved “significant results for consumers and businesses” in the first 14 months of operations.

The report highlights 62 consumer enforcement actions against traders for breaches of consumer protection legislation and 88 mergers assessed. The commission also blocked almost 34,000 products from entering the market because of safety concerns while over 1.8 million visitors sought information through its websites and just under 51,000 consumers were given information through its helpline .

“It was a busy first 14 months for the CCPC and we have achieved significant results for consumers and businesses,” said Ms Goggin.” Our remit is across all sectors of the economy and this is reflected in the various enforcement actions taken in retail, telecoms, tourism and the motor sector to name but a few.”

She said an ongoing priority for the CCPC would be public procurement.

“Our experience in investigating cartels shows that one of the most common forms of cartel concerns bid rigging. The rate of the overcharge related to detected cartels worldwide is estimated to be between 20-30 per cent, meaning that if only 5 per cent of procurement processes were subject to bid rigging, the extra cost to the lrish taxpayer would be in the region of €100m per year.

She said that in order to detect and deter bid rigging, the CCPC was exploring the introduction of a screening programme for procurement processes which would systematically search for indications that bid rigging may have occurred.

She described the second hand motor sector as another area of priority for the CCPC. In 2015, the commission received over 3,500 contacts from consumers relating to the motor sector - issues range from difficulties with deposits and financing, to potential car clocking and/or the selling of crashed cars.

One such contact lead to the CCPC opening an investigation, which in recent weeks, resulted in an individual being prosecuted for misleading a consumer about the mileage of a car.” A number of divisions across the CCPC are working together to ensure traders comply with relevant legislation and consumers are able to make better-informed purchasing decisions,” she said.