Anthony Albanese says ‘dodgy’ trading practices, ‘hidden fees and traps are putting even more pressure on the cost of living’ and need to be stopped
Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastJosh ButlerTue 15 Oct 2024 10.00 EDTLast modified on Tue 15 Oct 2024 17.18 EDTShareThe “dynamic pricing” of concert tickets will be banned as the federal government cracks down on “dodgy” trading practices and tackles hidden fees and subscription “traps” for online shopping, gym memberships and airline tickets.
Anthony Albanese and the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, will on Wednesday announce plans to ban unfair trading practices under Australian consumer law, the latest consumer-focused competition and pricing changes proposed by the government and badged as cost-of-living relief.
“Hidden fees and traps are putting even more pressure on the cost of living and it needs to stop,” Albanese said.
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The government said it would legislate “a general prohibition on unfair trading practices”, including “specific prohibitions of a range of dodgy practices”.
The Treasury will consult on the design of that scheme, but Chalmers’ office said areas to be addressed include “subscription traps”, which make it difficult to cancel a subscription, “drip pricing”, where extra fees are gradually added along each stage of a purchase such as for concert tickets, or websites requiring customers to set up accounts which are unnecessary for the purchase they want to make.
Green Day in Sydney for $500 – is dynamic pricing reserving live music for the rich?Read moreAlso to be banned are online marketing ploys which “aim to confuse or overwhelm consumers, omit or hide material information, or create a false sense of urgency or scarcity”. Those are said to include “warnings that a customer only has limited time to purchase a product”, commonly used by some large online retailers.
Another key proposal will be to address “dynamic pricing”, which the government described as where product prices change during the transaction process. It is a controversial fee structure, which can see prices spike high above the originally advertised price. The practice recently came under scrutiny after highly sought concert tickets went on sale in Australia.
Tickets for American rock band Green Day’s tour rose to up to $500, and the pricing model has also been activated for Pearl Jam, the Australian Grand Prix and Australian Open tickets.
Ticketing giants Ticketmaster and Ticketek have defended the practice, saying prices were set by artists and their teams, and that demand-driven pricing mitigates the problem of ticket scalping.
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A supersonic swindle: my £1,423 Oasis Ticketmaster hellRead moreThe federal arts minister, Tony Burke, told the ABC’s Four Corners, in an episode aired on Monday, that addressing “surge pricing” was “not something we’re looking at at the moment”.
But Wednesday’s announcement said the government would look to address dynamic pricing as part of its crackdown on pricing issues.
“From concert tickets to hotel rooms to gym memberships, Australians are fed up with businesses using tricky tactics that make it difficult to end subscriptions or add hidden fees to purchases,” Albanese and Chalmers said.
“These practices can distort purchasing decisions, or result in additional costs, putting more pressure on the cost of living.”
Albanese described the examples as “dodgy practices that rip consumers off”; Chalmers called them “dodgy deals”.
“Whether it’s traps that make it difficult or confusing to cancel a subscription, hidden fees and charges at different stages of a purchase, deceptive or manipulative practices online or making it difficult for people to report problems with their products or services, we’re going to change the rules,” the treasurer said.