Commentary Part 1 – Airports Licence conditions Section 19: Price control conditions
87.Section 19 requires the CAA to impose price control conditions where it considers this necessary or expedient having regard to the risk described in section 18(1)(a).
88.Subsection (1) provides that a licence condition is a price control condition to the extent that it regulates prices by (a) specifying the amount (or maximum amount) that may be charged, or providing that the amount (or maximum amount) that may be charged is to be determined in accordance with the condition; or (b) requiring that the amount (or maximum amount) charged should be approved by the CAA.
89.Subsections (4) and (5) enable the CAA to impose such price control conditions as it considers appropriate to deprive an operator of some or all of any unfairly high charges recovered by that operator and amounting to an abuse of substantial market power in specified circumstances and over a specified time period. These broadly comprise circumstances where the person is the operator on the day on which the relevant area becomes subject to regulation and is treated as having a licence for a period (under section 4) or would be treated as having a licence for a period but for the suspension of a market power determination or operator determination. The relevant time period begins when the operator becomes subject to regulation and will generally end when a licence is granted (see section 4(4)).
90.Subsection (6) provides that provisions for a price control condition may be made by reference to the amount charged for particular goods or services or to the overall amount charged for a range of goods or services.
91.Subsection (7) requires price control conditions to be time-limited.