Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC)

ICCC says as the Competition Watchdog, they were not aware of this acquisition until it was reported in the media.

In a press conference today, the ICCC expressed its disappointment over the acquisition of Laga Industries Limited, a subsidiary of Steamships Limited, by Paradise Company Limited, a subsidiary of Nambawan Super Limited, without its knowledge. 

ICCC Commissioner and CEO, Paulus Ain, said this following the announcement of BSP’s 2017 financial results of its income to increase by K1.99 billion and its assets to increase by K22.4 billion

In a statement, Ain said over the years BSP has recorded considerable profits and has done so again for the 2017 financial period despite a very challenging economic and business climate.

ICCC Commissioner Paulus Ain made the announcement during a media conference yesterday.

The application was jointly lodged on the 05^th of April 2017, by Kumul Consolidated Holdings Limited and Telikom.

KCHL also applied for clearance together with the authorization application, but subsequently withdrew it. As a result the review of this authorization application did not proceed until the 30^th of January 2018, when KCHL formally advised the ICCC to recommence the assessment of its authorization application.

The Commissioner said currently, core PPL infrastructure around the country are on intensive care unit and they are unsure how a tariff reduction will improve PPL’s services.

The comments follow statements by PPL acting managing director, Carolyn Blacklock last month that a reduction to the current tariff by half would make power accessible for many.

While acknowledging this, the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC) Commissioner, Paul Ain, highlights that there are a number of reports that the government has released, the recent being in 2010.

The Commissioner points out that the 2010 “Housing and Real-estate review” recommended for a guiding code to be developed to regulate the market.

Meantime, Ain says the Code is with Treasury, with the challenge now to recognise which agency will implement the code.

ICCC Commissioner Paul Ain says the upgrading and redesigning of the website is to replace the old site with this new and improved site which is equipped with new features.

The Commissioner outlined that some of the benefits from the new website will be the online application of licences, online system of lodging consumer complaints as well as an updated tracking system for statistics of all PNG Ports and PNG Power sites.

The code-share services will be provided under flights operated by Air Niugini.

The code-share arrangement with Air Vanuatu will be on the Port Moresby-Port Vila route via Honiara. The code-share arrangement with Solomon Airlines will be on the Port Moresby-Honiara route.

Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, Paulus Ain, said whilst both code-share agreements raise competition concerns, they are likely to continue to bring more benefits to the players in the aviation industry and contribute to the growth of economic activities associated with the aviation industry. 

According to the ICCC’s calculations, retail fuel prices for petrol, diesel and kerosene will increase throughout PNG as of 8^th January, 2018.

“These price increases are attributed to the increases in the Import Parity Prices (IPP) for this month. Furthermore, the increases in the IPP are attributed to the increases in the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) prices for petrol, diesel and kerosene during the month of December, 2017,” ICCC said in a statement.  

If the fees charged by the merchant/trader have not been authorised in the first instance by the commercial bank then such fees must not be charged.

This is the response by the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC) complaints by consumers on some businesses and shops charging clients extra fees for using an EFTPOS.

This comes after the ICCC found an increase in the particular items during an official visit to selected provinces.

One popular product consumed by many Papua New Guineans, the Mi goreng Indomie noodles, has been found to have a counterfeit.

“They look the same, you see the colour exactly the same, except the counterfeit one is written in another language, not English,” says ICCC Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, Paulus Ain.

“When we went to the shops I asked, can you eat this? If you can’t, why putting it on the shelves? Are Papua New Guineans dogs?