6 firms fined SR91m over price fixing in Saudi Arabia

Cairo: Saudi Arabia has imposed a total of SR91.1 million in fines on six gypsum companies after they were found guilty of colluding in price fixing in a violation of competitiveness rules, the latest such penalties in the kingdom.

The names of the violators were made public after final rulings were issued against them from an administrative appeals court.

The fines were announced by the government anti-trust agency, the General Authority for Competition, which urged all institutions to abide by the competitiveness system and fair competition supporting market growth and efficiency.

The agency recently warned that companies involved in collusion linked to tenders and offers in the kingdom are liable to a 10% fine of their total annual sales.

Such collusion, deemed a violation of the Saudi competitiveness law, involves an often-secret agreement between two or more competitors to make offers in government adjudications or share.

Saudi authorities have recently imposed penalties on companies found implicated in monopolistic practices. A total of SR6.4 million was imposed in August on 14 contracting companies for having breached the kingdom’s competition law by colluding in their price offers for government adjudications.

The penalties were the second such measure announced in less than a month.

Earlier that month, the General Authority for Competition announced imposing SR77.5 million on other contracting implicated in committing violations through collusion and coordination among themselves in government adjudications. The agency said it will fully publish the decision after it becomes final.

In June, the same authority announced slapping SR14.8 million on six companies operating in transporting cars and other goods after they were found implicated in agreeing among themselves to hike up prices.