Four letter machine company involved in collusion pricing is investigated and is willing to cooperate with the Commission to become the first settlement case

Four companies selling credit machines were suspected of participating in conspiracy. When the Competition Commission intervened in the investigation, these companies took the initiative to seek a settlement and reached an agreement with the Competition Commission.

The Commission today (25th) filed a file with the Competition Tribunal, requesting the department to order the companies to pay a fine of 800,000 to 3.37 million yuan.

This case is also the first case in which a company involved in the case provided cooperation to the Commission during the investigation phase and reached a settlement through the Commission’s "Cooperation Policy."

The applicant is the Competition Commission, and the four respondents are Quadient Technologies Hong Kong Limited (formerly known as Neopost Hong Kong Limited), Quadient International Supply Limited (formerly known as Neopost International Supply Limited), Toppan Information (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. and Smartech Business Systems (Hong Kong) Kong) Limited.

The respondent reached an agreement not to compete with each other

The letter-entry machine involved in the case is a machine that puts letters and other mail into envelopes, which is convenient for mass posting.

The merits of the case stated that between April 2018 and January 2019, the four respondents reached an agreement that they would not compete with each other when selling the first and two respondent's credit machines in Hong Kong. Toppan Hong Kong and Smartech also exchanged sensitive information , Make coordination.

The Competition Commission stated that the relevant actions constituted conspiracy to price, divide up the market, and rig bids, which violated the "First Conduct Rule" under the Competition Ordinance.

Upon investigation, the relevant behavior will be terminated

After the Commission launched an investigation, the respondent cooperated with the Commission to immediately terminate the relevant anti-competitive behavior and strengthen their respective competition compliance plans.

The Commission also applied to the Tribunal with the four respondents. The two parties agreed to deal with the litigation. The conditions involved included an order for the four respondents to violate the "First Conduct Rule" and the first two respondents to pay a fine of about 1.4 million yuan. , While Toppan Hong Kong and Smartech paid approximately 3.37 million and 800,000 yuan respectively.

The respondent is also required to pay the Commission’s investigation and litigation costs.

Case Number: CETA1/2021

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