Paulus Ain

ICCC Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, Paulus Ain announced the institutional changes in the electricity supply industry, and what these changes will mean for the ICCC going forward.

Mr Ain said since 2002, the ICCC has been regulating the electricity supply industry, until the passing of the National Energy Authority Act 2021 (NEA Act) and Electricity Industry (Amendment) Act 2021 (EI [Amendment] Act).

ICCC Commissioner and CEO, Paulus Ain, said so far his officers have not seen instances of price inflations by shops owners.

However, they are calling on consumers to be vigilant and to report and send evidence of shops breaching the gazettal.

In a media conference today ICCC Commissioner and CEO, Paulus Ain, said his officers have already begun inspecting to ensure prices of basic goods and needs are not inflated as per the Government Gazettal.

ICCC Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, Paulus Ain, said in support of this call the ICCC would like to inform business houses, relevant stakeholders and the public that bid rigging in public procurement is a serious anti-competitive conduct and is criminal in nature.

Ain said if a company or person is found to be engaging in such conduct, they can be prosecuted and if found guilty, severe penalties (both civil and criminal penalties) may be applied by the Courts under the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission Act 2002 (ICCC Act).

Over the years, consumer watch dog and economic regulator, the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission, has received complaints from consumers regarding the increasing hotel rates, in particular 5-star hotels in the nation’s capital.

Port Moresby in the past three years has seen more developments in hotels however, the increase in the supply of rooms is not reflected in the rates.

Concerns are now being raised by Independent Consumer and Competition Commission on the recent increase on hotel room rates in Port Moresby.

ICCC Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, Paulus Ain, said ICCC is encouraged by the fact that the Government and the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and Energy, Sam Basil, share the same concerns that consumers in the rural and remote parts of PNG would have been adversely affected because they, for valid reasons, may have not been able to register their SIM cards.

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.

ICCC Commissioner, Paulus Ain, said in a media conference today that based on its outlook of 2018, retail prices for fuel will be flat or fluctuate and not increase over the coming months.

He made the comments in relation to the price hike experienced across goods and services in the country at the start of January, and rumours that prices would increase throughout the year due to the excise duty.

In a media statement, the ICCC said the interim ban imposed on March 31, 2016, is still in force until September 17, 2017.

Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, Paulus Ain, said they have received reports about certain products that are being sold in the shops with non-English packaging and labels.

He said the ban is applicable to food products and not any other product or merchandise.

The interim ban requires that all food products must have the following minimum labeling requirement in English which include:

This follows concerns raised by the independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC).

In a statement the ICCC said BAT voluntarily ceased enforcing exclusive clauses in its existing Formal Retail Agreement, Non-Direct Wholesale Agreement and Wholesale Vendor Agreement.

This comes after the Commission raised competition concerns on how these exclusivity clauses were administered.

The three agreements between BAT and its sellers and distributors aimed to eliminate or minimize the importation and sale of illicit tobacco products in PNG.

In a media statement, Commissioner and CEO, Paulus Ain, said the ICCC was worried that the arrangement may raise potential competition issues.

This follows a report in one of the local dailies that Telikom and PNG DataCo had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to make available domestic and international cable capacity to each other on their infrastructure under a normal commercial arrangement.