The Italian Competition Authority to target an alleged cartel for the supply of water meters


In the case I835the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has opened an antitrust investigation against the main four suppliers of water meters in Italy following the receipt of a complaint. The ICA took the view that the firms under investigation might have put in place a cartel to allocate amongst themselves the public contracts for the supply of water meters tendered out by the utilities entrusted with the provision of the integrated water services.
The ICA observed that over the past 5 years the parties made the winning bids in the majority of the competitive tender procedures organized by the contracting authorities. And on the grounds of the facts and evidence collected in its preliminary investigation, the ICA believed that the parties coordinated their participation in the tender procedures for the supply of water meters. Interestingly, the parties coordinated their conducts through communication via the Skype and WhatsApp apps.
In light of the above, the ICA made the preliminary finding that the parties cartelized the market for the supply of water meters in breach of Article 101 TFEU or the corresponding Article 2 of the Italian Competition Law and opened an investigation into it.

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January 11, 2022 at 4:08 AM
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