(September 14 – 08:45 ET) – The Competition Tribunal has issued an order that will allow the Interac Association the power to punish its members for non-compliance with its rules.
Before this change Interac could use only expulsion to deal with non-compliance with its rules. This decision allows the board of Interac to develop policies to levy monetary penalties. Any discipline will have to meet rational business objectives and not discriminate. This ability to impose monetary penalties upon non-compliant members is consistent with policies and practices of other major North American networks.
The Competition Bureau started its inquiry into the operation of the Interac Association in July 1992. The essence of the inquiry was the allegation that the charter members of the Interac Association, as a matter of joint dominance, engaged in three broad categories of anti-competitive acts: restricting access to the network; creating barriers to product innovation; and controlling access and service pricing. The Bureau filed an application back in 1995 for the issuance of this sort of order.
On June 25, 1996, the Tribunal issued a consent order against the Interac Inc. and nine of the charter members of the Interac Association requiring them to expand representation on Interac’s board, liberalize access to the network, and eliminate constraints on product innovation and price competition. The result of the order was to allow a wider array of participants and new services to develop. The Competion Bureaus’s recent decision is variation on that order.
The Competition Bureau says it expects that the amendment, “will permit the board of Interac to manage its business and affairs in a flexible and measured manner.”
-IE Staff