Watchdog needs to bite bigger targets
- The Competition Commission has shown its teeth in a case involving two government cleaning contractors, but the public expects it to tackle more serious claims of fuel price fixing
The Competition Commission may not have a high media profile like other law enforcement agencies. But the watchdog rightly makes headlines whenever it bites.
The two firms were accused of exchanging commercially sensitive information for 17 tenders submitted to the Housing Authority between May 27, 2016, and August 21, 2018. They were awarded nine deals worth HK$110 million in total.
It took nearly four years for action to be taken in the case, which may not seem to be of the most serious kind. But it still warrants attention considering the involvement of public services and taxpayers’ money.
Decorating firms fined for price fixing as tribunal issues first penalties
Marking its sixth anniversary, the commission said it would focus on three areas in future, namely antitrust practices affecting livelihoods, cartels taking advantage of public funds and conduct related to the digital economy.
It is good to hear that the watchdog is this time prepared to invoke its statutory powers for a formal investigation.
Since its establishment in 2015, the body has resorted to enforcement in 12 cases, nine of which were related to cartel-like behaviour and the abuse of substantive market power, involving 47 company or individual respondents.
Call to regulate petrol prices, ease Hong Kong drivers’ burden
So far it has won all five cases handled by the tribunal, with punishments ranging from fines and the payment of legal costs to a disqualification order for a director. Another three cases of a less serious nature were resolved without litigation.
We trust chairman Samuel Chan Ka-yan is well aware of what the public expects when he expressed confidence that “the full benefits of the law and the commission’s work would be felt in all aspects of people’s lives”.
Until the watchdog shows more teeth, it seems like a tall order.
