Singapore: Closed consultation on proposed CCCS guidelines on price transparency

On 21 October 2019, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) closed its public consultation on proposed guidelines on price transparency to prevent misleading practices in the online travel booking sector. The proposed guidelines are divided into measures preventing drip pricing, facilitating price comparison, fair discounting, and use of the term "free". Drip pricing is an advertising strategy where a product or service is advertised at a lower price than the final price that consumers need to pay. Common drip pricing strategies are pre-ticket boxes that add additional services or products to purchase by default. The proposed guidelines stipulate that suppliers must ensure that add-ons are prominent, noticeable and properly disclosed. Suppliers shall further refrain from using opt-out approaches, and where they do, they must be properly disclosed. Moreover, the CCCS aims to facilitate price comparisons between competitors. The proposed guidelines stipulate that suppliers should ensure that price comparisons with other supplier's prices are not misleading. Furthermore, the CCCS advises suppliers to use actual, bona fide prices that provide a legitimate basis for price comparison when using strikethrough pricing. Lastly, the term free should not be used falsely or misleadingly. Suppliers should state which terms and conditions are tied to the free product or service.