Gerda entered into a prohibited agreement with the distributors of the company’s products. The decision by the President of UOKiK was sustained by the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection. The undertaking used price-fixing for the doors it manufactured

The court judgement regards the decision issued in December 2010 – the President stated then that Gerda, along with 45 distributors of the company’s products, entered into a prohibited agreement. The company, in the years 2000-2007 or even longer, obliged its trading partners to adhere strictly to the sales prices it had fixed for particular types of security doors. In the event a distributor failed to meet the conditions imposed by Gerda, the company restricted the right to immediately terminate such contract. In her decision the President of UOKiK imposed on the participants to this agreement a fine of PLN 1.2 mln in total. The sanction imposed on Gerda, the initiator to the agreement, exceeded PLN 380 thousand.

The undertaking enjoyed its right and appealed against this decision to the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection (pl. SOKiK) which dismissed the appeal on 2^nd October 2012. The courtconfirmed the conclusion of a competition-restricting agreement where trading partners committed to use the manufacturer’s price lists containing fixed prices. The court stated that this prohibited interference in market mechanisms resulted in exclusion of inter-brand competition. Moreover, it upheld the fine imposed on Gerda.

Under the law, the undertaking against whom a decision was issued by the President of UOKiK, may lodge an appeal to the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection. Moreover, the verdict reached by SOKiK may be appealed against to the Court of Appeal.

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]