• Is the gas meter delivery to the national gas distribution system operator infringing competition law?
• The President of UOKiK, Tomasz Chróstny, opened an investigation into the case, and the Authority’s employees, after obtaining permission from the court, conducted searches at the premises of several entrepreneurs in the gas sector.

UOKiK employees, assisted by the police, carried out searches at the premises of four entrepreneurs involved in production and distribution of bellows gas meters. Information obtained by the Authority indicates that entrepreneurs taking part in tenders organised by Polska Spółka Gazownictwa [Polish Gas Company] possibly entered into an anti-competition arrangement. The tender collusion could in this case have included tender proceedings for the supply of bellows gas meters conducted after 1 January 2017. The total sum Polska Spółka Gazownictwa allocated to financing these tenders is approx. PLN 690 million.

- We suspect a tender collusion, which is why I launched investigation proceedings during which we conducted searches in the registered offices of these companies. Polska Spółka Gazownictwa places orders for gas meter supply cyclically and the object thereof are deliveries of equipment widely used in i.a. households. We are currently reviewing the collected evidence – says Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.

The investigation proceedings are conducted in the case itself and not in relation to specific entrepreneurs. If the evidence gathered confirms the suspicions, the Authority will initiate antitrust proceedings and bring charges against individual entities. An enterprise involved in a competition-restricting arrangement faces a fine of up to 10% of its turnover.

- Tender collusion results in ineffective spending by the aggrieved institutions and losses to the State Budget, which in turn will be felt by all of us. Therefore, I call all persons who know that their company was involved in the collusion to contact the Authority under our whistleblower initiative. We guarantee full anonymity, and if you would like to take advantage of our penalty reduction programme, it is possible for the responsibility for taking part in an illegal arrangement to be waived - says Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.

Do you wish to inform the Authority about competition-restricting practices? Visit konkurencja.uokik.gov.pl/sygnalista/ and fill out a simple form. The system we use guarantees full anonymity, including to the Authority itself.

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office
pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
Phone: 22 55 60 246
Email: biuroprasowe@uokik.gov.pl
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL
You can also follow us on Instagram: @uokikgovpl