Citing concerns about the anti-competitive nature of eBay's proposal, the chairman of the ACCC Graeme Samuel, in a statement, called on eBay to delay implementation of the plan, which was supposed to take effect from next Tuesday.
"Given eBay's position as Australia's leading online marketplace, the notified conduct will substantially reduce competition to supply online payment services to users of online marketplaces more generally" Samuel said.
Furthermore the ACCC head pointed out that: "The ACCC acknowledges that having PayPal as the only payment provider has the potential to deliver some benefits to users, such as increased buyer protection insurance in certain circumstances.
However, the ACCC believes that consumers are in the best position to decide which payment method is most suitable for them".
Under the notification, eBay proposes to mandate the use of PayPal for almost all transactions on the eBay site.
"The ACCC is concerned that the notified conduct will allow eBay to use its market power in the supply of online marketplaces to substantially lessen competition in the market in which PayPal operates," Samuel said.
