Consumer law aims to ensure that businesses are fair and open in their dealings with consumers.
ORR protects passenger interests through enforcement of both general consumer law and licences which contain passenger-related obligations specific to the rail sector. Consumer law applies to all companies in the rail sector in their dealings with consumers (passengers).
Our powers enable us to investigate breaches of certain consumer protection laws where there is evidence of passengers as a group being put at an unfair disadvantage, and to take enforcement action if necessary.
Legislation
The key pieces of legislation that are relevant to our role include:
- the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 prohibit unfair commercial practices and, in particular, misleading and aggressive commercial practices.
- the Consumer Rights Act 2015 prohibits unfair contract terms and also provides consumers with certain rights and remedies where a business is at fault.
- the Enterprise Act 2002 (Part 8) - this gives us our enforcement powers and sets out the enforcement process we must follow.
Our approach to our consumer law role is to avoid overlap and therefore, to intervene only where there is a gap in protection for the passenger, where no other body is taking action or where the powers available to us are more suited to the circumstances.
Stakeholder working
There are other stakeholders with whom we work closely in our consumer protection role:
- Competition & Markets Authority – the general enforcer of consumer protection legislation; we have concurrent powers in relation to the rail sector
- Department for Transport, Transport Scotland and Transport for Wales – the main authorities for the delivery and protection of passenger benefits through the operation and enforcement of franchises in Great Britain
- Transport Focus and London TravelWatch – independent watchdogs representing the interests of rail passengers, who can assist passengers who are unhappy with a company’s response to their complaint.
Guidance
The Competition and Markets Authority has published some guidance documents on consumer protection which are relevant to the rail sector, including:
- guidance on consumer protection enforcement;
- guidance for businesses on the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008; and
- guidance for businesses on the provisions in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 which deal with unfair contract terms and notices.