A “deep-rooted and pervasive situation of lack of transparency towards consumers”. Which they are in a critical position to the “poor availability” of “technical and price information”. Information asymmetries that add to the difficulties linked to the fact that we are talking about a product in constant technological updating, moreover commercially associated with “pervasive methods of combined sales of products and services (bundling)”. Which they make obscures the understanding of how the final price is formed, how much you pay for the good and how much for the services connected to it. With the effect that often the bulk of the cost is linked to the former, without consumers realizing it.
These are some of the reasons that pushed the Antitrust to report the problems in the world of retail to Parliament hearing aids.
An area on which the Competition and Market Authority had shined a light with a fact-finding investigation, started in September 2023, and now completed. “There are at least 7 million Italians who suffer from hearing problems and of these approximately 2.5 million already use hearing aids”, explains the Authority that deals with consumer protection and competition. “Compared to other comparable countries, such as France, in Italy the average price per single device (between 1,500 and 2,100 euros) is higher and with less public support for the purchase,” adds the Authority.
A framework that led the AGCM to report to Parliament, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Economy, Agenas, Regions and Autonomous Provinces “the opportunity to guarantee, also through legislative-regulatory interventions, a clear and distinct indication to the public of the price of the device compared to that of the related services offered to the user”.
The investigation was not limited to the market as a whole, but also invested the supply of the devices by the National Health Service. Here the problem lies in the stratification of the legislation, which is unclear, “which has jeopardized the effective implementation of the essential levels of assistance, in addition to the strong opposition of the main commercial operators – summarizes the Authority -. Faced with the possibility that public supplies will return to a “tariff” regime – on the basis of changes linked to the entry into force of the new tariff nomenclature for prosthetic assistance -, the Authority believes that, to guarantee the efficiency of spending public and with a view to strengthening competitive mechanisms, the administrations concerned can carry out tenders”.
Among the findings that emerge in the report, also the fact that it is “it is appropriate to assign the reimbursement amount directly to the patient through the introduction of a “voucher” or “hearing voucher”“, to support competition between suppliers of products and services that allows access to an appropriate and technologically updated offer”.
I will also focus on Novamont bags
The Antitrust initiative is being felt on the stock exchange, where Amplifier – leader in the market affected by the report – is the worst on the main list with a loss close to 4% at mid-morning.
But this is not the only news coming from the Antitrust. Which also started an “investigative proceeding against Novamont to ascertain an alleged abuse of a dominant position, implemented since at least 2017″ in the raw materials markets “for the production of lightweight plastic bags (lightweight plastic carrier bags “LPB”) and ultralights (very lightweight plastic carrier bags “VLPB”), compatible with Italian legislation”.
Novamont produces Mater-Bi to make bioplastic bags and has signed exclusive agreements on the one hand with the producers of these bags and on the other with supermarkets and retailers. “Such exclusivity agreements could limit the use of alternative materials to Mater-Bi for the production of light and ultra-light plastic bags, with anti-competitive effects both towards the bioplastic producers competing with Novamont and the plastic bag producers who they use raw materials other than Mater-Bi”, says the Antitrust. The problem, for the Authority, is that more competition in the market could “also favor the development of cheaper or better quality eco-compatible products”.
A spokesperson for Eni, which entirely controls Novamont, commented: “We have taken note of the initiative of the Competition and Market Authority to which we are providing maximum collaboration, in the belief of the correctness of Novamont’s actions”.
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– 2024-04-09 12:01:24
