Whānau accessing a range of essential services should be able to access fair pricing arrangements without barriers. Essential telecommunication service businesses should ensure whānau do not become trapped in unaffordable or otherwise unsuitable arrangements and that whānau are not signed up to unaffordable or unsuitable arrangements in the first place.
FinCap welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Commerce Commission’s Draft Product Disclosure – Retail Service Bundling Guidelines (Draft guidelines). FinCap has regularly raised concern about the bundling of products and services and associated exit fees leading to financial hardship for whānau in Aotearoa. The relevant section of our Put on Hold? report is the most recent example of concerns we have shared from the financial mentors we support in relation to the mess caused by bundling.1 We strongly support work by regulators to intervene and ensure bundling does not lead to avoidable complex disputes, expense and debt for whānau accessing essential services.
Submission on Bundling Guidelines