ACCC

The consumer regulator has launched court proceedings against luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz for allegedly exposing consumers to serious injury or death by failing to comply with obligations under a compulsory recall of potentially deadly Takata airbags.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has appealed a judge's decision throwing out its competition case over an agreement for the privatisation of two NSW ports, calling the case "a matter of significance for the Australian economy".

Queensland crane company NQCranes wants to strike out the bulk of the ACCC's amended case alleging a conspiracy with a multinational rival to divide the Brisbane and Newcastle markets, saying there was no evidence of the regulator's new allegations of a second cartel agreement.

A judge has hit women's activewear company Lorna Jane with a $5 million penalty for representing to consumers during the height of the coronavirus crisis last year that its activewear would protect them from viruses including COVID-19.

The ACCC will probe potential competition and consumer concerns over online retail platforms eBay, Amazon, Kogan and Catch.com.au, and has called for submissions as part of its ongoing inquiry into digital platform services.

The ACCC's claim that NSW Ports stymied competition when it signed a 50-year agreement with the state to be compensated if the Port of Newcastle built a container terminal was based on "mere speculative hopes", a judge found in tossing the competition watchdog's regulatory action.

When trial begins next month in the ACCC's cartel case against BlueScope Steel, the parties will all appear by video, with a judge saying "hybrid" hearings - where some parties are in court and others appear by video - were "unsatisfactory".

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has taken legal action against international dental care company Smile Direct Club for allegedly misleading tens of thousands of consumers with claims they would be eligible for private health insurance coverage for their aligner teeth straighteners.

Apple plans to appeal the Full Federal Court's decision that Epic Games' misuse of market power lawsuit over it App Store terms should be heard in Australia because the case raises issues of "fundamental public interest".

A judge has ordered the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions to file a replacement indictment to address defects in the document at the centre of its criminal cartel case over a $2.5 billion ANZ share placement in August 2015.