The Consumer Council said yesterday it was disappointed that the government had watered down the competition bill, warning that it should not be weakened further.
Thomas Cheng Kin-hon, chairman of the council's working group on the competition bill, said that it was especially bad that the government removed the right of individuals to file lawsuits complaining of anti-competitive behaviour. 'The right for private legal actions was an important part, to protect the rights of consumers and of small and medium enterprises,' Cheng said.
'We believe there should be dual ways to implement the law, to sufficiently curb anti-competitive behaviour - taking away the right to private lawsuits is removing one.'
In the original draft, individuals and companies could either lodge anti-competitive complaints with the proposed competition commission - which will transfer cases to the future competition tribunal - or take their case to the tribunal directly. The revision the government announced last week - amid overwhelming concerns from the business sector - means all cases would have to go through the commission.
The bill aims to outlaw anti-competitive agreements such as price fixing, bid rigging and market sharing.
The business sector, including small and medium-sized companies, was critical of the original bill.