The Czech Office for the Protection of Competition fined the Association of Disinfection, Disinsection and Pest Control Workers of the Czech Republic for publishing, since 2016, so-called median prices for the provision of disinfection, disinsection and pest control services on its website.

What did the Association do? On its website, the Association published a document titled Median Prices, which listed prices for selected disinfection, disinsection and pest control services based on the prices charged by its members. This document included a "recommended" price range for specific services. The price ranges were regularly updated over a six-year period.

The Office for the Protection of Competition assessed this conduct as a prohibited anticompetitive agreement that could potentially affect competition in the relevant market. In other words, even the mere publication of price ranges for services in a particular sector can qualify as a cartel "agreement" — specifically, a by-object infringement, which is punished most strictly.

Given several mitigating factors, including the submission of a compliance programme, and through the use of a settlement procedure, the Association was ultimately fined a reduced amount of CZK 384,000 (at the first instance).

We recommend paying close attention to how you set your pricing policies and ensuring that you have effective internal compliance programmes in place.

Author: Vladěna Svobodová