Fees

Government aims to move TV and radio funding under state control, which critics say undermines independenceJournalists at the Czech Republic’s public broadcasters have said they are prepared to go on strike unless the government of the billionaire prime minister, Andrej ​Babiš, backs down on its plan to scrap licence fees and move funding under state control.In what the journalists see as a threat to their independence, the government wants to replace the current system, in which households pay fees directly to public service media, with direct funding from the state budget. “Licence fees are cancelled,” the culture minister, Oto Klempíř, declared last week. Continue reading...

UK motoring group fined £4.2m for not showing full price of lessons at time of bookingThe AA has been fined £4.2m and ordered to make payments to more than 80,000 learner drivers for not showing the full price of lessons at the time of booking, an illegal practice known as “drip pricing”.The UK competition watchdog, which launched an investigation into the practices employed by the AA Driving School and BSM Driving School last year, said that the AA-owned businesses must repay more than £760,000 as a result. Continue reading...

Presidential elections in Djibouti and Benin at the weekend highlighted how a costly electoral system is reshaping democracyAlexis Mohamed would have loved to stand against his former boss. A longtime adviser to Djibouti’s president, Ismail Omar Guelleh, Mohamed resigned last September, citing democratic regression in the country.But at the election at the weekend, Mohamed was not on the ballot. Now outside the country, he says he cannot return home to file nomination papers or campaign freely without credible security guarantees. Even if he were allowed to compete, nomination costs would still loom as a steep barrier in a political environment many critics describe as ceremonial, with Guelleh the habitual winner. Continue reading...

Delta, United and JetBlue hiked rates even as Delta announced $1bn pre-tax profit in quarter ending JuneMiddle East crisis – live updatesSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email Several major US airlines have raised their baggage fees in recent days, blaming ongoing volatility in oil markets caused by the US-Israeli war in Iran that has almost doubled jet fuel prices.On Tuesday, Delta followed the lead of United Airlines and JetBlue, which announced last week that they were hiking baggage prices because of the ongoing war. Continue reading...

Richard Blumenthal says company acts like it has ‘get-out-of-jail-free card’ as records show it upping fees to cut lossesTicketmaster quietly raised other fees after US crackdown on hidden chargesSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailSenators slammed Ticketmaster for raising ticket fees following a regulatory crackdown on hidden charges as revealed in a report by the Guardian last week.The Federal Trade Commission last May began requiring Ticketmaster to disclose concert ticket fees upfront – a practice known as all-in pricing. The company eliminated the order processing fee it charged at the the end of a transaction to comply with the rule. Continue reading...

Heathrow wanted changes to fund multi-billion pound upgrade, but airlines had warned steep rises would be passed on to passengersBusiness live – latest updatesThe UK aviation regulator has partially rejected plans by Heathrow to significantly raise its landing fees to fund a multi-billion pound upgrade, arguing the airport can still invest without steep hikes to ticket prices.The Civil Aviation Authority said the average charge per passenger should rise from £28.40 to £28.80 between 2027 and 2031. Continue reading...

Greens amendments to force new watchdog to scrutinise uni fees and the Jobs-Ready Graduates scheme rejected by federal governmentFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe federal government is being accused of dodging promised reforms to bring down soaring university fees, after rejecting efforts to have them scrutinised by a new watchdog.On Monday, legislation to establish the independent Australian Tertiary Education Commission (Atec) passed the Senate with a number of amendments, including to improve its resourcing and ensuring it had a focus on research. Continue reading...

Documents obtained by Guardian show company increased different fees to ‘offset revenue loss’ from FTC rule changeFollowing a wave of regulations banning the surprise fees that appear at the end of a transaction, Ticketmaster stopped charging the extra few dollars it added to each order at checkout. Typically shared with the venue, the order processing fee was a boon to a global platform that sells hundreds of millions of tickets a year.But documents obtained by the Guardian show that while Ticketmaster eliminated this fee to comply with the rules, the company simply raised the cost of different fees in a number of its venues to ensure it didn’t lose money. Continue reading...

Practices must publish price lists, cap prescription fees and reveal if they are part of a large group, watchdog saysBusiness live – latest updatesThe UK’s competition watchdog has ordered vets to cap prescription fees at £21 and proposed a price comparison website, after finding consumers had faced huge price rises and been “left in the dark” over bills.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said public satisfaction with the cost of services was “low” after an investigation into the £6.3bn market found “there is not strong competition between veterinary businesses”, with large chains dominant. Continue reading...

Ministers go to Brussels for talks amid tuition fees standoff, 10 years after Britons voted to leave EUThis week is “Brexit reset” week for the British government, as ministers engage in a flurry of activity intended to highlight their determination to forge closer ties with Brussels 10 years after the country first voted to leave the EU.On Monday, Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister in charge of negotiating the government’s reset with the EU, will arrive in Brussels for a meeting of the joint EU-UK parliamentary partnership assembly. He travels mob-handed, to be joined by the Europe minister, Stephen Doughty, and the trade minister, Chris Bryant. Continue reading...

British negotiators ‘blindsided’ by Brussels’ demand for a reduction that could cost universities £140m a yearBritain is in a standoff with Brussels over a demand to cut university tuition fees for European students, in a row that threatens to scupper Keir Starmer’s planned EU reset.EU officials say European students should pay “home” fees of about £9,500 a year as part of the negotiations over a youth mobility scheme, rather than the higher international rate, which can rise above £60,000. Continue reading...

The move, which lowers fees to 25%, is a breakthrough for Chinese developers Tencent and ByteDanceSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxApple announced late on Thursday it would lower the commission fees collected in its App Store in mainland China. The move follows pressure from regulators in the tech company’s second-largest market, as well as global scrutiny of its payment requirements.Fees for in-app purchases and paid transactions will be lowered to 25% from 30% starting on Sunday, Apple said in a statement on its blog for developers. Continue reading...