Division (4)

Like fixed prices, recommended prices too have a significant negative impact on competition. They can facilitate coordination of prices between service providers. They can mislead consumers as to the price levels that might be reasonable. It is true, at least in theory, that they can provide consumers with useful information about the average costs of services, but there are alternative methods of providing price information of this kind. For example, the publication of historical or survey-based price information by independent parties (such as a consumer organisation) might provide a more trustworthy price guide for consumers, which distorts competition to a lesser extent.