Dozens of suppliers of retail stores, including pet food, hobby items, toys and specialty shoes, have been warned in recent months that they may have forced their customers to charge certain retail prices. The Netherlands Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM) reports this on Thursday.
The supervisor received several reports. For example, suppliers would have imposed minimum prices on retailers. ACM does not want to say which suppliers are involved, but it still monitors various companies to check whether they comply with the rules. Companies risk a fine of up to 900,000 euros or 10 percent of turnover if they do not comply with the rules.
Suppliers are prohibited from influencing sales prices. Retailers cannot compete freely in this way and consumers pay more.
ACM therefore sees a violation of this prohibition as a serious infringement of the competition rules. Last year, the regulator fined Samsung more than 39 million euros for influencing retailers in setting prices for televisions.
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