Funeral homes raided in antitrust practice probe
The Competition Commission on Wednesday raided funeral homes and other premises associated with the industry as part of an investigation into anti-competitive behaviour.  The antitrust watchdog said it suspected a trade association and several funeral service providers of engaging in behaviour such as price-fixing and market sharing. It said their practices were unfair to consumers and allegedly violated the first conduct rule of the Competition Ordinance.  Commission officials, together with police, raided 13 locations in Hung Hom, Tuen Mun and Yuen Long and ordered those involved to hand over relevant documents and information. Federation of Trade Unions lawmaker Dennis Leung welcomed the investigation. He also wants the government to provide the public with more information on funeral services.  “I hope the government will take more action, including providing reference prices for people when handling funeral services, or providing more channels for people to learn about funeral services, such as the size of funeral halls and the quality of the services, so that people can take steps to avoid being cheated and charged higher prices," he said.  The commission said its officers made a surprise visit to a mortuary in Sha Tin in August last year and found that funeral service providers coordinated their sharing of customers there.