By Adam Ray
Companies that form cartels to rip off the public may find their chief executives sent to jail.
The Government says businesses and consumers have been conned for too long by cartels, and it wants to get tough on them.
Cartels are the consumer's worst nightmare. The Commerce Commission estimates businesses that conspire together push prices up by at least 20 percent.
"Effectively what we are talking about is manipulation and deception," says Commerce Minister Simon Power. "Consumers end up paying more."
Running a cartel is only a civil offence at the moment with a fine the maximum sentence. Mr Power says a bigger stick might be necessary, and today released proposals to make it a criminal offence with a jail term.
"Criminalisation puts an entirely different perspective on their behaviour," says Mr Power.
The commission would not comment today, but competition law experts say it has recently become more active in policing cartels.
The commission is running 17 cartel investigations involving companies operating here and overseas, including a case against Air New Zealand and 12 other airlines over freight prices. The airlines deny the claim.
Mr Power says the changes would bring us closer to anti-cartel laws in Australia.
The Government is taking submissions on the proposals until March. Mr Power wants a decision on law change by the middle of the year.
3 News