Andrea Coscelli, Claudio Pollack, May 20, 2011
This paper discusses Ofcom’s current activities related to consumer protection and empowerment. It describes our approach and framework for analysis, and goes on to examine those areas we currently treat as our top priorities. We do so by exploring the following questions:
- What is the role of consumer policy?
- What do we mean by consumer protection and empowerment?
- What issues have given rise to concerns in our recent experience?
- What tools do we have to improve consumer outcomes, taking
- account of the impact of market mechanisms and the role of
- incentives?
- What is the evidence of the effectiveness of our approach to date?
We also briefly discuss our proposed intervention against the sale of automatically renewable contracts to purchasers of fixed voice and fixed broadband services. Our protection and empowerment work complements our competition work as it addresses areas where markets without dominant providers are not functioning perfectly for consumers in terms of their ability to compare and switch providers easily as well as to negotiate, understand, and enforce contracts. As the OFT states “markets work well when there are efficient interactions on both the demand (consumer) and supply (firm) side. On the demand side, confident consumers activate competition by making well-informed and well-reasoned decisions which reward those firms which best satisfy their needs.” In addition to our powers using regulations and our work with industry, we also discuss the scope for incorporating greater use of comparative information and behavioral economics to improve market outcomes and reduce consumer harm.
Links to Full Content
Featured News
Musk’s X Requests Brazil Supreme Court to Resume Service After Shutdown
Sep 26, 2024 by
CPI
Visa Acquires AI Firm Featurespace to Enhance Fraud Prevention
Sep 26, 2024 by
CPI
Visa Gears Up for Legal Fight with DOJ Over Debit Card Monopoly Allegations
Sep 26, 2024 by
CPI
UFC Fighters’ Lawsuit Settlement Resurfaces with $375 Million Offer
Sep 26, 2024 by
CPI
Ex-Amazon Seller Appario Files Lawsuit to Dismiss Antitrust Allegations
Sep 26, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Canada & Mexico
Sep 3, 2024 by
CPI
Competitive Convergence: Mexico’s 30-Year Quest for Antitrust Parity with its Northern Neighbor
Sep 3, 2024 by
Francisco Javier Núñez Melgoza
Competition and Digital Markets in North America: A Comparative Study of Antitrust Investigations in Mexico and the United States
Sep 3, 2024 by
Julio Garcia
Recent Antitrust Development in Mexico: COFECE’s Preliminary Report on Amazon and Mercado Libre
Sep 3, 2024 by
Alejandra Palacios Prieto
The Cost of Making COFECE Disappear
Sep 3, 2024 by
Mateo Fernández