The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has accepted a court enforceable undertaking from South Australian refrigeration contractor Equipserve Solutions Pty Ltd.
The undertaking relates to statements made by Equipserve Solutions in an email to its customers which attributed the entire amount of an increase in the price of a refrigerant gas to the carbon price when that was not the case.
“The ACCC was concerned that Equipserve Solutions' statements had misled customers and caused them to believe that the entire price increase was due to the carbon price - when that was not in fact the case,” ACCC chairman Rod Sims said.
Equipserve Solutions acknowledged the ACCC concerns and admitted that the conduct contravened section 18 and 29 of the Australian Consumer Law.
Equipserve has cooperated fully with the ACCC and promptly offered a court enforceable undertaking to resolve the matter. Equipserve has undertaken to send a corrective notice directly to affected customers and to post a corrective notice on Equipserve Solutions’ website.
Equipserve Solutions has also undertaken to:
- not engage in similar conduct in the future.
- implement a trade practices compliance program including training for staff on their legal obligations.
“This outcome has been assisted by the full cooperation provided by Equipserve Solutions,” Mr Sims said.
"Businesses must carefully consider the basis for any pricing claims to ensure such claims are truthful and have a reasonable basis."
“If a business’s suppliers have not attributed a price rise to the carbon price, then the business cannot assume that the carbon price is the cause of the price rise”.
The ACCC has issued guidance to assist businesses in understanding their rights and obligations when making claims about the impact of the carbon price, including business snapshots ‘Information to support your claims’ and ‘Dealing with your suppliers and competitors’.