Closing Remarks and Next Steps Remko Bos Brussels, 2 October 2017

Challenges of Bundled Products (1/2) Contractual Issues Distinguish between Bundled Contracts (one contract, 2 products) and Added Contracts (with different companies) Multi company contracts No single point of contact Unclear contract conditions  Overlapping/contradicting contract conditions per service e.g. discount applied to only one of the services or different switching periods (Unfair) commercial practices Harder for consumers to compare offers Complex comparison  difficult to compare bundles (prices, quality etc.) Many online price comparison tools don’t (yet) compare bundled offers and contractual conditions Lessons from airline business  trend to unbundle – only possible to compare base fare but not the Additional Services (e.g. luggage sizes differ per company) Suppliers have an incentive not to make single product elements available Complex billing information Extra issues e.g. data management and privacy 29/08/2018

Challenges of Bundled Products (2/2) Competition Issues Replicability Market consolidation Price opacity Switching is sticky – consumer lock in and market failure Complaints Complex billing information To whom should consumers complain?  avoid regulator and ombudsman ping-pong need a (database/map of whom to contact – possible single point of contact?) How to classify bundled product complaints e.g. telecoms, energy, insurance Sanctions – can your regulator fine? Consistency in enforcing consumers rights 29/08/2018

Bundled Product Opportunities Bundled Products as the new business model New packages of bundled services  Trend that is here to stay Telecoms  churn or switching out of bundled products is low – LOCK IN Airlines  trend to unbundle but suppliers are not transparent on price Energy  risk of essential service (energy supply) being affected by additional products Opportunities for closer cooperation between different regulators Consumers need easy to understand, easy to compare and consistent information General consumer legislation as a firm basis  essential element across all sectors Sector specific rules can compliment but must be consistent with consumer laws. Beware of rules per sector. Evolution of prices comparison tools  not only price not only comparisons but also suppliers should help consumers to exit contracts and bundles (advice as part of the commodity) 29/08/2018

Partnership for Enforcement of European Rights (PEER) – next steps (1/2) Information and knowledge sharing among different regulators  effective and consistent enforcers Case Studies (e.g. Portuguese interruption of energy due to non-payment of equipment maintenance services) Guidelines exist e.g. ERSE (PT) on energy, ACM (NL) on general consumer law Is there interest to develop TOGETHER guidelines on commercial practices (based on Case Studies or principles) for companies to adhere to due professional diligence on bundled products? Good cooperation among sectoral regulators exists PEER website – repository of good resources will be made public 29/08/2018

Partnership for Enforcement of European Rights (PEER) – next steps (2/2) Raising Awareness EU associations (CEER, BEUC, NEON etc) committed to engaging with others through PEER  increase awareness among our members (e.g. our meetings, conferences e.g. CEER Customers Conference) Other channels? Reach out to Consumer Protection Authorities, Data Protections Authorities, European Commission to raise consumer awareness (e.g. single point of contact, mandatory information on complaint handling in case of bundled products) Clarify jurisdiction - set up a database of who is the right regulator/ombudsman/authority to contact if the consumer has a problem with a product/service (European Commission?) Other PEER events? “Power of PEER” (online newsletter) to share lessons from our dialogue? 29/08/2018

Possible PEER area for future? Smart metering, data privacy and data protection, and the Internet of Things Cybersecurity Enforcement issues concerning unfair commercial practices Others?

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