MOSL questions CCW assertion that small businesses could exit the market

MOSL has questioned the metrics and timeline put forward by CCW in its advocacy for taking the smallest business customers out of the retail market if it isn’t working better for them by April 2025.

CCW’s recommendation came from its five-year review of the non-household retail market. Responding, MOSL questioned the switching and renegotiation metrics proposed by CCW to determine if outcomes have improved. MOSL argued that alternative competitive offerings will be restricted by the Retail Exit Code price caps.

It further argued: “With the BR-MeX (business customer and retailer measure of experience) performance commitment due to come into force after a trial period in April 2025 and the reformed Market Performance Framework (MPF) from April 2024, time will be needed for the value to be obtained for these new mechanisms and other changes proposed. We therefore believe April 2025 will be too early to fully reassess whether the market is delivering for smaller customers.”

Elsewhere MOSL agreed with elements of CCW’s assessment. It agreed with the consumer watchdog's view that the market can no longer be regarded as “fledgling”. But it challenged other areas, such as the review’s level of attention to structural issues. MOSL said: “In a healthy market customers would switch from retailers not providing a good service and inefficient retailers would fail. These things are not currently happening. We would therefore have welcomed more focus in CCW’s recommendations on the structural barriers at play in the market and how these can be resolved.”