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Competition watchdog to study online travel booking sector, data portability issues

SINGAPORE — Taking on its new consumer protection role since the start of the month, the competition watchdog announced on Monday (April 9) that it will be conducting market studies on online travel booking and the transfer of personal data.

Competition watchdog to study online travel booking sector, data portability issues
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SINGAPORE — Taking on its new consumer protection role since the start of the month, the competition watchdog announced on Monday (April 9) that it will be conducting market studies on online travel booking and the transfer of personal data.

In the first study, the renamed Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) will focus on the online booking of flight tickets and hotel accommodation via third-party sites in Singapore, given the growing popularity of these platforms.

It will take a closer look at how well the online travel booking market is functioning by looking into the types of commercial arrangements between third-party online travel booking platforms, like Expedia and Trivago, and service providers, such as hotels and airlines, said Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry and National Development Koh Poh Koon at the official launch of the renamed CCCS on Monday.

The study will include how such arrangements are negotiated and applied in Singapore, and how online travel booking platforms and service providers compete with one other.

The second is a joint study with the Personal Data Protection Commission to examine consumer protection, competition and personal data protection issues, should a data portability requirement be introduced in Singapore.

Data portability enables individual consumers to request that a service provider share the personal data and other data which they have provided — in a structured, machine-readable format — to a rival company without hindrance when they switch service providers.

The study comes amid discussions that a right to data portability should be made a requirement in jurisdictions around the world, Dr Koh said.

These market studies will “bring about benefits for both businesses and consumers”, Dr Koh said, particularly the data portability study, as the ease of switching would foster competition between different service providers, and encourage them to innovate and develop new services.

Previously called the Competition Commission of Singapore, CCCS’ name change reflects its additional function of administering the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act (CPFTA), which ensures that businesses engage in sound trading practices, from April 1.

The CPFTA, introduced in 2004 to provide for civil actions against errant businesses that engage in unfair trading practices, was previously administered by Spring Singapore, which merged with International Enterprise Singapore to form Enterprise Singapore.

As Enterprise Singapore sharpens its focus as the lead agency to promote trade and support the internationalisation needs of companies, the CCCS was restructured to take over Spring’s consumer protection function.

Expounding on the commission’s new role, Dr Koh said it will be given investigation and enforcement powers to take action against errant retailers who persist in unfair trading practices, adding that it is well-placed to take this on given its track record in enforcement, as well as its strong in-house legal and economic capabilities.

Consumers wishing to lodge a complaint should still make the Consumer Association of Singapore (Case) their first port of call, said CCCS chairman Aubeck Kam. He highlighted that over 70 per cent of cases handled by Case, a non-profit, non-government organisation, were successfully resolved through mediation.

The CCCS acts on persistently errant retailers, or those found to be engaging in egregious trading practices, by filing injunction applications against them with the court. It will also work with the police in cases involving Penal Code offences such as cheating.

In the past two weeks, the CCCS has made headlines as it launched an investigation into the merger between rail-hailing rivals Uber and Grab, while it issued them a set of proposed directives to “preserve and/or restore competition and market conditions”.

Even as the CCCS steps up to take on its new consumer protection role, Dr Koh said it “will not compromise” its long-running role to enforce the Competition Act, which deals with the anti-competitive conduct of businesses.

“Competition is a defining characteristic of a free market economy, which facilitates innovation and encourages a more efficient allocation of resources. This in turns contributes to the growth and resilience of the economy,” Dr Koh added.

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