Report Cartels and market power abuse
Cartel agreements and market power abuses harm competition and can lead to a host of negative effects that result in enormous economic damage. Examples of possible economic effects are infalted prices, less variety for undertakings and consumers, and depressed innovation.
Companies that are affected by illegal practices, or are participants to illegal practices and wish to terminate this participation, can make a significant contribution to the discovery, termination and punishment of competition-infringements.
Report illegal practices! Your requests will be treated confidentially.
What is a Cartel?
Cartels are agreements and concerted practices between undertakings that have either the purpose or the result of restricting or preventing competition. These agreements include price fixing, quota arrangements and the division of markets between competitors.
Cartels hamper economic activities of enterprises and raise consumer prices. An OECD study reveals that prices are set higher by about 16% than under normal conditions of competition.
What is Abuse of Market Power?
If a company has no sufficient competitive pressure it is essentially independent from its competitors and its customers. Having such a dominant market position is not prohibited. Thus, the goal of antitrust law and the activities of the Federal Competition Authority is to remedy abuses of this dominant market position.
Abusive practices by dominant companies may lead to disadvantage for other companies and customers that would not naturally occur or be possible in a setting of effective competition. Abusive practices include: imposing unfair prices, restriction of sales, deprivation of certain contractors, and selling goods below cost.
Bring in a complaint!
Do you know of a violation of antitrust law or market power abuse?
Then bring in a complaint.
Apply for leniency!
Is your company involved in prohibited cartel agreements and would like to stop this? Apply for leniency!
Get informed under: Leniency
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