OECD kpcdb

1. Scope

 

Section 15 of the PCA prohibits one or more entities from abusing their dominant position by engaging in conduct that would substantially prevent, restrict, or lessen competition.

 

Conduct that is considered abusive, include:

 

a)  Selling goods or services below cost with the object of driving competition out of the relevant market;

b)  Imposing barriers to entry or preventing competitors from growing within the market in an anti-competitive manner;

c)  Making a transaction subject to acceptance by the other parties of other obligations which, by their nature or according to commercial usage, have no connection with the transaction ;

d)  Setting prices or other terms or conditions that unreasonably discriminate between customers or sellers of the same goods or services, where such customers or sellers are contemporaneously trading on similar terms and conditions, where the effect may be to lessen competition substantially; 

e)  Imposing restrictions on the lease or contract for sale or trade of goods or services concerning where, to whom, or in what forms goods or services may be sold or traded, or imposing conditions not to deal with competing entities, where the object or effect of the restrictions is to prevent, restrict or lessen competition substantially; 

f)   Making the supply of particular goods or services dependent upon the purchase of other goods or services from the supplier, which have no direct connection with the main goods or services to be supplied;

g)  Directly or indirectly imposing unfairly low purchase prices upon goods or services provided by marginalised service providers and producers;

h)  Directly or indirectly imposing an unfair purchase or selling price on competitors, customers, suppliers or consumers;

i)   Limiting production, markets or technical development to the prejudice of consumers.

 

2. Assessment 

 

Section 4 of the PCA defines a “dominant position” as a position of economic strength that an entity or entities hold, which makes it capable of controlling the relevant market independently from any, or a combination of the following: competitors, customers, suppliers or consumers.

 

The PCC determines whether or not an entity has a dominant position in a relevant market by taking into account a number of factors specified under Section 27 of the PCA, including market share.

 

According to Section 27, there is a rebuttable presumption of dominance if the market share of an entity in the relevant market is 50% or more.

 

3. Remedies and sanctions

 

Under Section 29 of the PCA, any entity found to have violated Section 15, of Chapter III, is subject to remedies and administrative fines. (See Section I.4 of this text on Remedies and Sanctions.)