A surcharge of more than 400 million yen for 11 companies in the rigging over the “activated carbon” bid November 22 17:16
The Fair Trade Commission ordered a surcharge of over 400 million yen for 11 major chemical manufacturers and other companies, as they repeatedly rigged over the bid for "activated carbon" used for water purification at water purification plants. .
11 companies including “Honmachi Chemical Industry”, a chemical trading company, “Kuraray”, a major chemical manufacturer, and “Osaka Gas Chemical”, a subsidiary of Osaka Gas, were charged.
According to the Fair Trade Commission, each company repeated rigging to pre-determine contractors for bidding for activated carbon used for water purification at 137 facilities such as water treatment plants in Tokyo and Osaka. is.
Among them, “Honmachi Chemical Industry” played a leading role in eastern Japan's water purification plant, and it was assigned to contractors.
The Fair Trade Commission ordered 11 companies to be charged a total of ¥ 434.6 million in accordance with the Antimonopoly Act, and there was little sales during the period of non-compliance and was not subject to charges. We issued an exemption order for 12 companies including
Water consumption has been declining year by year due to the effects of population decline, and the Fair Trade Commission believes that rigging was repeated to secure profits as demand declined.
“Honmachi Chemical Industry” commented, “We apologize to all those concerned. We will take the order with sincerity, strive to thoroughly and strengthen the compliance system, and make every effort to quickly restore trust.” .