*Please note that the links to the content in this Part will direct you to New Westlaw.<\/p>\n
To purchase an article, please email: LTA.Service@thomsonreuters.com<\/a> or contact us on 1300 304 195 (Australian customers) or +61 2 8587 7980 (international customers) during business hours (Mon-Fri, 8am-6pm AEST).<\/p>\n The latest issue of the Australian Journal of Competition and Consumer Law<\/em> (Volume 31 Part 4) contains the following material:<\/p>\n EDITORIAL<\/a><\/p>\n Financial Hardship and Complaints-Handling in the Buy Now Pay Later Industry: <\/strong>A Recent Empirical Study<\/strong><\/em><\/a> \u2013 Lucinda O\u2019Brien, Daniel Beratis, Ian Ramsay and Paul Ali<\/p>\n Buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) services are increasingly popular in Australia, with almost seven million accounts active in 2022. The BNPL industry maintains that its voluntary Code of Practice contains strong safeguards to ensure that consumers do not suffer hardship as a consequence of using BNPL services. By contrast, consumer advocates argue that BNPL causes harm, by encouraging consumers to become overcommitted. They contend that BNPL providers do not do enough to assist consumers in hardship or to address complaints effectively. This article outlines a desktop empirical study conducted by the authors, examining the industry\u2019s Code and the policies of eight BNPL providers. It finds that while the Code imposes substantial obligations on the industry, with respect to hardship and complaints, there is little evidence that these are met in practice. It concludes that regulated, transparent and enforceable minimum standards would reduce the risk of harm to consumers.<\/p>\n The Race to Regulate Big Tech \u2013 Lessons from Germany<\/strong><\/em><\/a> \u2013 Sabrina Frank and Malte Frank<\/p>\n While Australia has only recently joined the contest between regulators to create innovative competition tools to cope with the challenges of digital markets and big tech, Germany is assembling a first set of decisions under its new rules, the famous s 19a. The article describes the first cases and decisions conducted and taken by the German competition regulator and analyses the challenges and legal risks of this innovative tool against the background of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission\u2019s regulatory proposals.<\/p>\n DEFECTIVE GOODS<\/a> \u2013 Editor: THJ Cadd<\/em><\/p>\n CASE NOTE<\/a> \u2013 Editor: Christopher Hodgekiss SC<\/em><\/p>\n COUNCIL CONSIDERATIONS<\/a><\/p>\n COMMISSION CAMEOS<\/a><\/p>\n CONSUMER CONCERNS<\/a><\/p>\n ECONOMIC(S) MATTERS<\/a><\/p>\n REPORT FROM CENTRAL ASIA<\/a> \u2013 Editor: Evgeny Khokhlov<\/em><\/p>\n REPORT FROM CHINA<\/a> \u2013 Editor: Wayne Leach<\/em><\/p>\n REPORT FROM INDIA<\/a> \u2013 Editors: Pravin Anand and Vaishali Mittal<\/em><\/p>\n BENCHMARKS<\/a><\/p>\n For the PDF version of the table of contents, click here: New Westlaw Australia \u2013 AJCCL Vol 31 No 4 Contents.<\/a><\/p>\n Click here to access this Part on New Westlaw AU<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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