Economic regulation of goods or services

The price and quality of goods or services in markets with monopoly characteristics is regulated by the Commerce Commission under Part 4 of the Commerce Act.

Businesses regulated under Part 4 currently include electricity lines businesses, natural gas pipeline businesses, the international airports at Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, and local government water service suppliers.

Types of regulation can include price-quality regulation, negotiate-arbitrate regulation, revenue threshold regulation, quality regulation, performance requirement regulation, ring-fencing requirements, and information disclosure requirements.

In this section I tēnei wāhanga

Economic regulation of water services

Local government water supply and wastewater services are subject to economic regulation under Part 4 of the Commerce Act 1986. This is part of the Government’s Local Water Done Well programme.

Effectiveness of economic regulation for airport services

Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch international airports are subject to information disclosure regulation under Part 4 of the Commerce Act 1986.

Government policy statements

The Government may periodically provide the Commerce Commission with statements of economic policy to which it must give regard.

Past enquiries or reviews of economic regulation

Find out more about the 2013 Merits review of Part 4 of the Commerce Act, and work that has been done in the area of airport regulation.

Last updated: 28 August 2025