“Bells” over 1 million euro imposed by Competition Commission. The case concerns anti-competitive practices rigging tenders.

The Plenary of the Committee (hereinafter “EA”) with the no. 869/2024 its unanimous decision, during the simplified dispute settlement procedure of Article 29a of Law 3959/2011, accepted the relevant dispute settlement proposals they submitted 18 businesses active in the market of land surveying services and supporting services for the creation of a national land registry throughout the Greek territory and imposed fines totaling 1,081,339.64 euros.

The research was launched in November 2021 in the market for cadastral study services and supporting services for the creation of a national cadastral register. In total, on-the-spot checks were carried out in 26 enterprises.

One of the audited companies submitted an application for affiliation to Leniency Program for exemption from fines, according to EA Decision 526/VI/2011.

Eighteen of the audited companies were subjected to a Dispute Settlement Procedure, based on par. 14 of the decision EA 790/2022.

The investigation found that some of the audited companies were contacted in the context of meetings and personal contacts in order to agree the distribution among them of the individual twenty-eight (28) cadastral studies of the tender announced on 04.10.2013 by the National Cadastre and Mapping SA (whose universal successor is today the NPDD under the name ELLINIKO KTIMATOLOGIO) for the “Awarding of contracts for cadastral studies & supporting services for the creation of a national cadastral register in the rest of the country”, by determining the lowest price for each of them. These companies participated in a horizontal conspiracy to rig tenders and specifically in an agreement or concerted practice regarding the distribution of the studies of the relevant tenders with determination of the underdog for each of these studies (horizontal market sharing agreement). By the above behavior, seen as a whole, the companies involved proactively reduced the uncertainty involved in autonomous competitive behavior.

The said horizontal partnership had single and lasting character and extends in total (with individual variations for the companies involved) from September 2013 to December 2020.

When calculating the fine, the EA calculated the basic amount of the fine, applying the highest rate it has applied in the past in similar cases of rigging public tenders.

However, for all the companies involved, the amount of the fine was limited to the statutory maximum amount that can be imposed, i.e. to 10% of the total turnover of each business prior to the issuance of the decision to use or stop the use of the violation, as the case may be.

With its Decision, the EA granted the company and the applicant the benefit of leniency with full exemption from the fine, according to par. 47 of Decision EA 526/V/2011 (Leniency Program).

The EA imposed reduced fines on the other companies, due to the dispute settlement process (15% reduction), for the fulfillment of the identified violations of Article 1 of Law. 3959/2011 and 101 of the TFEU, as follows:

The total amount of fines imposed amounts to to 1,081,339.64 euros.

Leniency Program

The finding of a company’s participation in agreements of a cartel nature, i.e. in secret agreements between competitors, the object of which is the fixing of prices or quantities, the distribution of customers or market shares, or on the basis of which tenders are rigged, can lead to significant fines from the EA, in criminal sanctions of the natural persons responsible and in exclusion of the involved companies from public tenders and concession contracts for three (3) years from the issuance of the decision.