Australian Regulator Sues Woolworths And Coles Over Discount Pricing Claims
Date
9/22/2024 9:00:16 PM
(MENAFN- Live Mint) (Adds responses from Woolworths and Coles in paragraphs 5 and 6, further details on the proceedings in paragraphs 7-10)
Sept 23 (Reuters) - Australia's competition regulator said on Monday it had sued supermarket chains Woolworths and a unit of Coles Group in the federal court for allegedly breaching the consumer law by making misleading claims about discounts.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) alleged that while consumers understood the "Prices Dropped" and "Down Down" promotional prices offered by the two supermarkets meant products were offered at lower prices, the new prices were actually higher than, or the same as, the previous regular price.
The regulator alleges the conduct involved 266 products for Woolworths at different times across 20 months, and 245 products for Coles across 15 months.
"We allege these misleading claims about illusory discounts diminished the ability of consumers to make informed choices about what products to buy, and where," ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said.
Woolworths said it will review the claims made by the regulator and continue to engage with the ACCC on the matter.
Coles said it takes compliance with the Australian Consumer Law "extremely seriously", and it intends to defend the proceedings.
In June, the federal government said Australia could impose billion dollar fines on big supermarket chains that fail to comply with an industry code of conduct.
It had demanded the grocers with more than A$5 billion ($3.41 billion) in annual revenue to comply with the code of conduct that had been voluntary earlier. The supermarkets would face fines of up to 10% of annual turnover for breaches of the code, it had added.
The ACCC estimates that Woolworths and Coles sold tens of millions of the affected products and derived significant revenue from those sales.
The ACCC said, it was directed by the Treasurer in January 2024 to conduct an inquiry into the Australian supermarket sector and its pricing practices. ($1 = 1.4684 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Ayushman Ojha; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Rashmi Aich)
MENAFN22092024007365015876ID1108702011
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.