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You might be asking yourself, 'What is a claim?'
These are statements made by businesses in advertising and promotional material,
on product labels and in sales pitches and in contracts.
Regardless of how they're made,
under the Act businesses must not make false, misleading or deceptive claims
about the price of goods or of services
and this includes comments about the impact of the carbon price.
The most important thing to remember is
just like any other claim you make, you must be truthful and you must have a
reasonable basis.
Now, claims about the impact of the carbon price could include
'Beat the carbon tax - Buy Now!'
or 'Our prices will be hit hard by the carbon price soon, so get in early'.
or you might hear businesses saying
'Our prices have increased by 5% because of the carbon price'.
Not all of these statements will be misleading.
It's important that you remember,
first of all, it's business as usual.
You can increase your prices as you see fit.
And secondly,
like any claim it must be truthful and it must have a reasonable basis
These responsibilities also apply when you engage agents, such as advertising
agencies, to prepare adverts for your business or to communicate with your
customers.
If your agent breaks the law
you may also be liable.
So take care to supervise the activities of your agents and ensure that any claims
comply with the law.
Now, a couple of examples of the types of claims the ACCC may look into further.
Consider a situation where a business's costs have increased because of the carbon
price
as well as due to other factors.
The business shouldn't say that 'all cost increases are because of the Carbon Price.'
Or, a sales representative overstates a price increase
by saying for example,
'Our prices have increased because of the carbon price.'
when this is not the case.
The business doesn't have a reasonable basis for making this claim.
And remember you may be responsible for the claims made by your employees
even if you don't instruct them to make the claim.
For more information,
see our Guide for Business and Business Snapshots available on the ACCC website.