The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) has invited public comment on a number of draft recommendations it plans to make relating to online property conveyancing across NSW.
The Tribunal said its recommendations were aimed at supporting eConveyancing by applying price regulation and improving competition to deliver innovation and cost savings.
IPART Chair, Paul Paterson said the Tribunal had found that the prices being charged by the first Electronic Lodgment Network Operator (ELNO) in the market, Property Exchange Australia (PEXA), were reasonable.
He said IPART recommended that those prices apply as maximums for PEXA and any other ELNO operating in NSW, indexed by Consumer Price Index (CPI) each year for the next two years.
“Since 1 July 2019, the majority of property transactions in NSW (including all transfers, mortgages, discharges of mortgage, caveats and withdrawals of caveats) are required to use eConveyancing instead of traditional paper conveyancing,” Dr Paterson said.
“It means lawyers, conveyancers and financial institutions are now online using an electronic lodgement network to exchange data, prepare settlement documents, settle funds, pay duties and lodge documents with the land registry.”
He said eConveyancing was saving time and reducing the potential for errors and fraud compared to paper conveyancing.
He said the highly concentrated nature of the ELNO market required light handed price regulation to protect consumers and measures to improve interoperability between systems to stimulate effective competition.
“Most conveyancing is now being conducted electronically, but the market remains highly concentrated with two ELNOs licensed to operate in NSW, but only one having undertaken any transactions,” Dr Paterson said.
“This is unlikely to change until the lack of interoperability between ELNO platforms is addressed, so we are recommending that interoperability be preferably implemented on a national basis by Australian Registrars’ National E-Conveyancing Council (ARNECC) or otherwise required as a licence condition in NSW.”
He said a public forum to discuss the recommendations is to be held in Sydney on 3 September and submissions to the Draft Report will close on 17 September.
IPART’s 12-page draft report, with the full list of recommendations, can be accessed at this PS News link.