Companies risk significant fines for price-fixing in a case that the country’s competition agency calls a turning point in the battle against harmful practices on the market.
Montenegro’s Agency for the Protection of Competition found that three telecommunications companies identically increased the minimum prices for prepaid five-euro mobile phone top-ups in violation of the rules.
The agency in April launched an investigation into Montenegrin Telekom, M:Tel and One after the Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services submitted an initiative to probe violations of competition rules.
The competition agency determined that the companies had violated the law on the protection of competition when they decided on an identical amount for prepaid top-ups, on the same deadline for the top-up accounts as well as the same date in applying the new rules, from April 1.
Agency Director Nebojsa Jovovic said the examination determined that the agreement between the companies had the aim of distorting competition and was illegal. “The agency has prohibited further implementation of this prohibited agreement and imposed measures on all three operators,” Jovovic said.
He added that the companies face fines ranging from 1 to 10 per cent of their revenues from the previous year. “If we take into account their income, and if the misdemeanour court confirms the agency’s decision, these companies face a total fine of 2.7 to 27 million euros,” Jovovic said.
He said the companies have the right to appeal to the Administrative Court, but meanwhile may not continue to apply the current agreement. “They will have to adapt to the measures that we have imposed … and I hope this will benefit consumers in lower prices for prepaids. In practice, these companies should have different service prices and compete on the market,” Jovovic said.
The President of the Council of the Agency, Dragan Damjanovic, said the case represented a turning point in the fight against harmful practices that go against the interests of consumers.
“Items like this are of critical importance to end-consumers who often … are neglected due to the interests of profit and other corporate goals. We will not tolerate anti-competitive behaviour,” Damjanovic said.
Belgium
