For nearly 9 years IMS Sofa, furniture manufacturer, was fixing with its distributors prices for the company’s selected products. The undertaking was fined with almost PLN 330 thousand. The sanction would have been twice as high if the company had not benefited from the leniency programme

Under the law, participants to competition-restricting agreements, e.g. price collusion, can be fined with a maximum of 10% of revenue gained in the year preceding issuing the decision. Entities wishing to avoid financial sanctions can cooperate with UOKiK under the leniency programme. The undertaking who intends to apply for immunity from fine cannot be the agreement’s initiator or induce other undertakings to this prohibited practice. Moreover, such undertaking should, as the first entity, provide evidence on the existence of the collusion. In the event it was the prohibited agreement’s initiator or filed the application as the second entity (or subsequent), then it may apply for reduction of fine.

IMS Sofa from Bydgoszcz (a manufacturer of furniture under the brands of Etap Sofa, Helvetia Furniture and Flair) has recently benefited from the leniency programme. The proceedings against the company were instituted in January 2012 and revealed that prices of products by Etap Sofa stemmed from price fixing. The company obliged its trading partners to apply the minimum resale prices that it fixed. There was a possibility to decrease the price only by a discount not exceeding 3%. Morever, the company controlled these distrubutors who wanted to use lower rates. This conduct meant that furniture prices by Etap Sofa could not be lower than the imposed ones.

This prohibited practice was applied for nearly 9 years – starting from November 2003, to March 2012. The information indicating the prohibited agreement was collected during the inspection with search at the premises of IMS Sofa, and also directly from the company which applied for the leniency in the course of proceedings. Due to the fact the company was the agreement’s initiator, it could not expect a full immunity from fine, but it was possible to have the sanction decreased. The undertaking provided the Office with a lot of evidence, such as the actual lifespan of the collusive agreement, which was not previously known by the Office and contributed significantly to issuance of the decision. For this reason the President of UOKiK decided to reduce by half the fine imposed on the company. As a result, the sanction amounted to nearly PLN 330 thousand (PLN 329 801).

The decision is not final, the company lodged an appeal to the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection.

Additional information for the media:
Małgorzata Cieloch, Spokesperson for UOKiK
Department of International Relations and Communication
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa
Phone: +48 22 827 28 92, 55 60 106, 55 60 430
Fax: +48 22 826 11 86
E-mail: [SCODE]bWFsZ29yemF0YS5jaWVsb2NoQHVva2lrLmdvdi5wbA==[ECODE]