Cimas, Premier face probe

service sector by Cimas and Premier medical aid societies.
This follows a complaint lodged by Netstar Ambulance Services two years ago that the two firms were refusing to honour claims for patients ferried by Netstar.
Cimas and Premier are the major players in the health insurance service sector.
It is alleged that Cimas and Premier preferred to deal with Emras and Mars, in which they have interests. Premier owns 100 percent in Emras through PSMI Investment while Cimas owns 40 percent equity in Mars.
“The commission undertook preliminary investigations in terms of Section 28 of the Competition Act into the alleged practices,” said CTC.
“The preliminary investigation established that there were prima facie cases that Cimas and Premier medical aid societies were engaging in the alleged discriminatory practices in contravention of the provisions of the Act (and) the commission has resolved to undertake a full-scale investigation.” CTC will hold a stakeholder hearing on Thursday.
CTC can take remedial action against a culprit in terms of the provisions of the Competition Act of 1996. It has the powers to issue and order to cease and stop companies from carrying out unfair business practices.
The force of the order given by CTC carries the same weight as a court judgment. The commission once investigated Cimas on allegations of restrictive and discriminatory practices. The medical society was then ordered not to abuse its dominant position in the sector by engaging in restrictive practices of an exclusionary and or exploitative nature.
CTC was formed through an Act of Parliament, and it has, since inception, conducted investigations of restrictive business practices into a number of sectors. In the past, the commission carried out similar investigations into the automotive, manufacturing, waste paper collection, beverages, telecommunication, cement and sugar industries.
Some of its roles include investigating unfair trade practices arising from trade distortive competition and protect local industry from unfair local competition. It also provides technical support to Government in trade negotiations at regional and multilateral level.