Competition investigates 300 tip-offs and inquiries about price covenants and other abuses during the crisis

The National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) has already received more than 300 complaints and inquiries related to the formation of cartels or other anti-competitive pacts related to the coronavirus crisis.

The multitude of tip-offs has led the body led by José María Marín Quemada to create specialized teams to respond to this phenomenon, monitoring the behavior of the affected markets and initiating investigations linked, fundamentally, to the funeral, health or financial services sectors.

The supervisor has opened a complaints box (covid.competencia@cnmc.es) that invites to inform potential cartels or abuses of dominant position related to the response to the pandemic.

"This mailbox is a specific channel for citizens and companies to make any complaint about anti-competitive behavior in the current context. For example, abuses of dominant positions through excessive prices ; anti-competitive agreements between operators or widespread unfair behavior in goods and services affected by the crisis health, "says the CNMC in a statement released this Friday.

The open investigations try to determine if there are indications of infraction of the Law of Defense of the Competition, in which case the corresponding sanction file would be initiated for anticompetitive practices.

"The CNMC will continue to rigorously analyze these markets. But, in addition, it is closely monitoring any other market in which signs of anti-competitive business behavior are detected and will take the appropriate actions when deemed appropriate in defense of the public interest protected by the Law of Defense of Competition ", warns the CNMC.

On the other hand, the CNMC is receiving these weeks consultations on the legality of different cooperation agreements between companies to carry out response measures against the coronavirus crisis. These are sectoral agreements that go beyond the activity of the entities themselves and that affect the insurance, hospital, banking and health services producer sectors such as face masks, respirators and hydroalcoholic gels.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

• Coronavirus
• Covid 19

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