Saudi Arabia: 6 contracting companies fined SR77 million for involvement in monopolistic practices
Kingdom warns businesses against collusion to raise prices
Cairo: A Saudi government anti-trust agency has announced imposing more than SR77 million on six contracting companies for involvement in monopolistic practices.
The General Authority for Competition (GAC) said the six businesses had been implicated over committing violations of collusion and coordination among themselves in government adjudications.
They were charged with breaching the competition law in the kingdom.
An affiliated committee tasked with ruling on violations of the competition law penalised the involved companies by total fines of SR77.5 million.
GAC said it will publish the committee’s full decision after it becomes final.
Earlier this month, the agency had warned commercial establishments of the violation of raising prices by colluding among them, a prohibited practice.
This act has “negative impacts” on consumers and markets, and results in “unjustified” price rises, it explained.
In June, GAC 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 increase prices.
In April, the Authority penalised 14 cement companies by imposing a fine of SR10 million on each for colluding to raise cement prices and monopolise the market in violation of the Saudi competition law that bans acts, agreements among competing companies resulting in controlling prices of goods and services.
A court based in Riyadh rejected appeals filed by these companies against the decision, making it final.
The companies were, moreover, ordered to publish the penalty decision at their expense.