The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
(ACCC) has succeeded in its first claim pursuant
to section 29(1)(e) of the Australian Consumer Law
(ACL), which prohibits the making of false or
misleading representations purporting to be testimonials relating
to goods or services. This prohibition was introduced on 1 January
2011, and exposes companies to potential pecuniary penalties. In
ACCC v P&N Pty Ltd & Ors [2014] FCA 6, three solar
panel suppliers who represented that written and video testimonials
published on their company websites and on YouTube were given by
customers, when in fact they were not genuine customers, were found
by the Federal Court of Australia to have contravened section
29(1)(e) of the ACL. This was also found to be misleading or
deceptive conduct, in contravention of section 18 of the ACL.
