ABUSE OF DOMINANT POSITION: AMO SR initiated an administrative proceeding in connection with using a bus station in Žilina region

AMO SR initiated the administrative proceeding in the matter of possible abuse of dominant position.

On 24 February 2023 the Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic, the Division of Abuse of Dominant Position and Vertical Agreements, (hereafter "the Office") initiated, based on its own initiative, an administrative proceeding in the matter of possible abuse of dominant position pursuant to the Article 5 Paragraph 3 Letter a) of the Act on Protection of Competition (the Act No. 187/2021 Coll., hereafter "the Act") against an undertaking operating in the field of providing services related to the use of bus stations in Žilina self-governing region (hereafter "Žilina region"). Pursuant to the aforementioned provision of the Act, the abuse of dominant position on relevant market is any direct or indirect imposing of unfair prices or other unfair trading conditions.

The Office initiated the administrative proceeding following an investigation, during which the Office had obtained information and documentation giving a rise to the suspicion that an undertaking operating in the field of providing services related to the use of bus stations in Žilina region could impose on bus carriers an unfairly high fee for the use of a bus station, charged for every bus connection.

Pursuant to the Article 42 Paragraph 1 of the Act, the Office shall impose a fine of up to 10 % of the worldwide turnover on the undertaking for the infringement of prohibition of abuse of dominant position pursuant to the Article 3 Paragraph 10 of the Act for the previous accounting period.

The initiation of administrative proceeding does not mean that the party to the proceeding has infringed competition rules, nor does it prejudge conclusions that the Office may reach in the decision on the matter itself.