Announced Why Chain Markets Are Fined

Discussions about chain markets, which have occupied the country’s agenda for a long time, took place last week. Competition Authority was moved to a new dimension with its historical decision. The institution, which has completed its investigation into the markets, has been awarded 5 chain markets and 1 supplier. 2.6 billion TL administrative fine in total had cut. Almost all of the markets that were fined by the Competition Authority announced that they would appeal the decision.

Making a statement today, the Competition Authority Chairman Birol Küle made a statement to clarify some of the discussions after the penalty imposed on the markets. Ash, punishment in the markets not given due to exorbitant prices, He stated that it was given due to ‘cartelisation’. However, the investigation about 19 months agoannounced that it was launched with a preliminary research decision on March 31, 2020.

The penalty was not given because of the exorbitant prices:

According to Küle’s statement, the Competition Authority discussed the preliminary investigation report on May 7, 2020 and decided to investigate 30 enterprises. He stated that the investigation report, which was prepared in about a year, was completed on March 31, 2021. Then to the chain stores that the punishment given is not the topic of today explained. The description of Küle was as follows:

“In other words, exactly 7 months before the decision, the report containing the violation determinations, which is the subject of the decision, was shared with the parties. It is not the topic of today. Correspondence as evidence, going back to 2018, were seized. As you know, the final decision was taken on October 28. During the investigation process, a total of 4 defenses, three written and one verbal, were received from the parties regarding the alleged actions. The final decision taken as a result of the completion of the procedural processes stipulated by the law is approximately covering a period of 19 months given as a result of the review.”

Küle stated that the subject of exorbitant prices is also on the agenda and clearly expressed the reason for the last penalty:

“It would be helpful to clarify this issue. According to the determinations made by the Competition Authority, although it is seen that the prices are increased against the consumer due to the infringing behaviors, There is no assessment, emphasis or conclusion on whether these prices are ‘exorbitant’ or not linked to the level of prices. In the investigation, a type of violation, which is defined as exorbitant or excessive price in competition law, was not examined. As a matter of fact, this type of violation is a violation within the scope of abuse of dominant position in article 6 of our law. However, the present investigation was carried out within the framework of Article 4 of the law. During the investigation process, it was investigated whether these prices were determined as a result of the coordination/coordination provided through direct or indirect contacts between competitors, not the exorbitant price or the level of prices.”

5 markets organized the market:

Küle stated that it is seen that sales prices and price increases are coordinated through direct or indirect contacts through partner suppliers among the five markets that have been penalized, and there are many similar statements in the documents obtained that ‘the market is organized’, ‘the increased prices will be reflected on the shelves simultaneously with the competitors’. explained. With this,

• future prices,
• price increase dates
• seasonal campaigns and discounts

announced that sensitive information about competition such as He stated that the prices of the chain stores that have not increased their prices yet are intervened by the suppliers, thus increasing the prices. These situations were reflected in the documents as ‘correction of broken prices’.

Cartel is a crime according to the Constitution:

Küle states in the Constitution that the state will prevent monopolization and cartelization that will arise as a result of de facto and agreement. expressly decreed drew attention. However, he stated that this situation is illegal and prohibited according to the Law on the Protection of Competition.

All findings and evidence will be shared in the reasoned decision:

Küle stated that the opinions reflected in the press these days are based on assumptions and posted the reasoned decision on their website. that they will be made publicly accessible explained. With the reasoned decision all findings and evidence. He also stated that they will

Separate investigations are conducted against suppliers:

Speaking about the fines of one supplier last week, Küle explained that the investigation was carried out against 30 enterprises, but they only obtained concrete evidence about 5 markets and 1 supplier company. Kule, the documents in the penalty given to the markets not just documents for one supplier, with a decision taken on April 21, 2021 against 14 suppliers on suspicion of committing an action of a similar type of violation. investigation has been initiated explained.

How are fines determined?

Küle explained how the fines given to suppliers and markets were decided as follows:

“As for the amount of penalty, we have a Penalty Regulation in effect on this issue. carried out our punishments on turnovers determined by this regulation. The cartel is a serious violation, and penalty rates range from 2 percent to 4 percent. If the duration of the violation is more than one year, this rate is increased by half, if it is more than 5 years, it is doubled. The very low share of the infringed activities in the turnover is also a reason for the discount. Everything has been duly done. In the same market, fines ranging from 3 percent to 7 percent have recently been imposed by some other competition authorities where the same type of infringement has been detected.”