Failed Bill Express and related companies sued by the ACCC

[img_assist|nid=11037|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=39]A claim was submitted to the Federal Court of Australia by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission against electronic payments company Bill Express and related company Technology Business International, both of which are in liquidation. The subject of the lawsuit is that the competition committee alleges the two companies engaged in third line forcing by offering to supply customers with Bill Express’s electronic payments products and services on the condition that the customers rent electronic payment equipment from TBI.

According to the estimates of the ACCC 3,500 to 4,500 merchants signed agreements to rent equipment from TBI as a result of the alleged third line forcing. At the moment about 2,800 merchants have contracts. The suit was also filed against BNY Trust Company of Australia and Mobius Financial Services. The ACCC claims that the companies were “knowingly concerned” in the alleged third line forcing as long as later the rights of TBI to receive monthly rental payments from merchants were assigned to BNY. After Bill Express broke BNY and its agents didn’t turn to stop demanding and debiting payment of the equipment rental fees from each merchant but they rather continued charging commissions of about $550 a month.

The Australian competition watchdog requests Federal Court to cancel the rental agreements entered into by two representative merchants and to force BNY repay to the two representative merchants all money paid to BNY or its agents. Besides, the ACCC wants Federal Court to impose a permanent injunction preventing BNY from requesting or recovering any payment from any merchants under the rental agreements or launching legal proceedings to force merchants to pay up