Q. What are the Authority's expectations of retailers with respect to complying with clause 13.236F(1)(b), which requires retailers to provide information to customers with GXP-based pricing to enable them to consider the outcomes of applying the stress tests to their position.

A. Retailers must make relevant customers aware of the stress tests and where they can obtain information on them. We don’t expect retailers to actually apply the stress tests for each customer (although retailers can do so if they wish) or to ensure they carry them out.

Retailers may use any means to make customers aware of our stress testing information. For example, a letter from the retailer to the customer outlining the regime and containing a link to the stress testing page on our website would be regarded as a suitable approach.

Q. When should disclosing participants provide this information to customers?

A. The Code requires disclosing participants to certify that information was provided to each of the participant's customers who entered into or renewed a contract during the relevant period (clause 13.236F(1)(b). This does not prevent a participant from providing information to customers prior to the signing of a contract, and the Authority suggests that it would be good practice to do so.

Q. Retailers may have customers that are themselves disclosing participants under the regime, such as a directly connected major industrial consumer. To avoid 'overlaps', can the Authority identify these parties or set a threshold so that retailers do not need to include these parties in the downstream advisory provisions of clause 13.236F(1)(b)?

A. We see the potential for a retail customer to also be a disclosing party in its own right. Likewise, a customer may have relationships with more than one retailer, and could therefore receive advice on the stress tests from separate retailers.

We don’t consider these issues will present any major problems, and that the best approach is for retailers to provide information to all their customers that fall within the provisions of clause 13.236F(1)(b). This will be simpler than trying to identify any instances of overlap.

Furthermore, even if there are instances of overlap, this will not affect the integrity of reporting to the registrar as this is based solely on returns to be made by disclosing participants.