• President of UOKiK Tomasz Chróstny has initiated antitrust proceedings against Karcher.
• The suspicious activity is the long-standing imposition of retail prices of Kärcher appliances and cleaning systems - pressure washers, hoovers or steam cleaners - on distributors.

The proceedings are conducted against a Poland-based company of the Karcher sp z o.o Group of Companies. The evidence gathered shows that ever since the company began its activity in Poland in the late 1990s, it might have been, in consultation with its dealers, fixing the retail prices of its products.

"Until 2005, the company might have been imposing prices of products on its sales networks, both in physical shops and online. After 2005, this practice consisted mainly in fixing prices on online platforms," explains Tomasz Chróstny, the President of UOKiK.

The written agreements Karcher concluded with its distributors and the general terms of commercial cooperation contained, inter alia, provisions according to which the distributors were entitled to shape product prices only under the conditions laid down by Karcher. This means that buyers of Karcher products were unable to buy them at prices lower than those imposed top-down. Sellers who sold the products at lower prices might have been penalised by having their discounts revoked or their payment periods shortened, and in extreme cases, by having their cooperation agreements terminated. Some dealers actively participated in disciplining the other entities by informing Karcher of their lower prices.

For example, one of the emails reads: "(...) Spring sale has begun and I already have examples of the promotional prices being undercut. The contract explicitly mentions such practices and the resulting penalties. Please send to all of us a letter reminding us of the relevant contract provisions so that these contract provisions are not just an empty paragraph."

"Price agreements between contractors operating at different levels of trade are one of the most serious violations of competition. The evidence in our possession justifies our suspicion that the retail prices of Kärcher appliances were being fixed, which might have led to overpricing and competition restriction," says Tomasz Chróstny, the President of UOKiK.

There is a penalty for participating in an agreement restricting competition of up to 10% of the turnover of the company. Managers responsible for entering into collusion may be fined up to PLN 2 million.

Severe sanctions can be avoided thanks to the leniency programme. It provides entrepreneurs participating in an unlawful agreement and managers responsible for collusion with an opportunity to avoid fines or have them reduced. This is an option available on the condition of cooperating with the President of UOKiK as the "key witness" and providing evidence of, or information about, the existence of an unlawful agreement. Entrepreneurs and managers interested in the leniency programme are invited to contact UOKiK. At telephone number 22 55 60 555, the lawyers of UOKiK answer all questions regarding leniency applications, including anonymous ones.

Prior to the conclusion of antitrust proceedings, the President of UOKiK may also make a proposal to all parties to the proceedings to participate in the procedure of voluntary submission to penalty if he believes that this will accelerate the proceedings. The penalty imposed on the entrepreneur participating in the procedure shall be reduced by 10% compared to the fine that would have been imposed otherwise.

We would like to remind you that the Office also runs a programme of acquiring information from anonymous whistleblowers. Visit https://konkurencja.uokik.gov.pl/sygnalista/ and fill out a simple form. The European system we use guarantees full anonymity, also towards the Office.

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
Phone +48 695 902 088, +48 22 55 60 246
E-mail: biuroprasowe@uokik.gov.pl
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL