ECCC urges government to scrap changes to confidence code

The Energy and Climate Change Committee (ECCC) has joined calls for the government to scrap changes to the confidence code for price comparison websites.

In a letter to the government, the committee raised concerns that changes to the confidence code allowing comparison sites to only show commission-paying suppliers would erode consumer trust and have a negative effect on competition.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) put forward the remedy after its probe into the energy market in June but has faced criticism from a number of independent suppliers, including GB Energy Supply and Co-operative Energy about the difficulties smaller suppliers will face to pay the same rates of commission as the big six suppliers.

The letter to the secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy Greg Clark said that the committee was “alarmed” about the remedy to roll back the confidence code requirement to show the whole of the market and that it would be a “retrograde step”.

ECCC chair Angus MacNeil said: “Price comparison websites must do what they say on the tin. Consumers expect price comparison sites to shine a light on the whole market, not keep them in the dark and push them into commission earning deals.”

It would be “counterproductive and ironic if the CMA investigation led to a remedy that inadvertently reinforced the dominance of the big six,” MacNeil adds in his letter.

The letter also raises concerns about the database of disengaged customers from the CMA which aims to allow suppliers to target marketing at customers who have been on the Standard Variable Tariff for more than three years.

GB Energy Supply managing director Luke Watson said: “We hope the new secretary of state acts quickly to give serious consideration to the concerns raised by the Select Committee.

“We urge the government to work with us and other small energy suppliers to find an alternative solution which ensures that bill payers get the best possible deals, rather than rubber stamp a remedy that creates the potential for a cartel between the big six suppliers and the big two comparison sites.”