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Penalties for breaching the codes
Breaches of the cash acceptance codes can deny consumers of the reasonable opportunity to pay cash at certain supermarket and fuel retail sites.
Breaches of the rules can have serious consequences including court imposed penalties and other enforcement action.
See fines and penalties for penalty details.
Enforcement of the codes
The ÌÇÐÄÔ´´ is responsible for enforcing compliance with the Cash Acceptance Industry Codes.
If we think there has been a breach of the codes, we can investigate and may take enforcement action.
The ÌÇÐÄÔ´´ uses a range of options to make sure the codes are complied with. We consider several factors when deciding which options to use.
Enforcement options include:
- administrative resolutions, such as the party in breach agreeing to stop the behaviour
- court enforceable undertakings under section 87B of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010
- infringement notices
- court action where the court may impose penalties.
When considering whether to take enforcement action, the ÌÇÐÄÔ´´ considers all the circumstances of the breach. For the codes, relevant circumstances may include evidence of the practical, cost and extraneous factors impacting a business’ ability to accept cash. Another relevant circumstance may be whether the ÌÇÐÄÔ´´ is assessing an exemption application relevant to the conduct.
For more information, see our Compliance and Enforcement Policy.