The Commerce Commission has warned the Auckland branch of the Order of St John that it risked breaching the Commerce Act by using its control of 111 ambulance calls anti-competitively to disadvantage the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust.

The Commission's Commerce Act Manager, Jo Bransgrove, said that Auckland Order of St John ambulance dispatchers were sending the Order's own helicopter to do work for which the Rescue Helicopter Trust had the contract.

Ms Bransgrove said the Commission is alleging that one of the Order's purposes in sending its own helicopter was to prevent the Trust being paid and to eventually take over the emergency ambulance services market.

The Trust is contracted by the Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Corporation (ACC) to provide helicopter air ambulances for accidents in the region. Over recent years, it has averaged one such flight a day.

After the Commission began its investigation the Order stopped its allegedly anti-competitive behaviour, and the Trust is now assigned the 111 calls that it should be.

The Commission has decided to end its investigation with a warning and is not taking court action.

The Commerce Act prohibits an organisation in a dominant position in a market, using that position for an anti-competitive purpose in any market.

In this case, the Commission's view is that the Order is dominant in the market for 111 emergency ambulance dispatch in the Auckland region - Telecom sends all 111 ambulance calls in that region to the Order's control room.

The market for helicopter emergency ambulance services in the region is competitive. The Order has a contract with the Health Funding Authority for medical emergency work. The Trust has a contract with ACC to provide helicopter air ambulances for accidents.

The Commission's view is that the Order used its dominance in the market for 111 emergency ambulance dispatch for an anti-competitive purpose in the market for helicopter emergency ambulance services.

Media contact: Commerce Act Manager Jo Bransgrove

Phone work (04) 498 0958

Communications Officer Vincent Cholewa

Phone work (04) 498 0920

Commission media releases can be viewed on its website www.comcom.govt.nz