A fuel supplier found guilty of breaching the competition law after allegedly pressuring a petrol station owner to revoke a diesel price cut has taken the consumer watchdog to court in a bid to overturn the decision.

After an investigation started in January 2015, the Competition Office ruled last month that San Lucian Oil Company Limited, a member of Falzon Group Holdings, had breached the law.

The probe started after a Rabat fuel station owner lowered the price of diesel by 2c, only to change his mind before implementing the decision, claiming pressure from his supplier, San Lucian Oil. It had allegedly threatened to withdraw the station’s increased profit margin if the owner reduced the price.

The watchdog concluded that both the supplier and the station owner had breached the Competition Act through what is known as a resale price maintenance (RPM) agreement.

San Lucian Oil had initiated proceedings before two separate bodies

While commending the station owner for taking the initiative to cut the price, it pointed out that he should not have given in to the supplier’s demand by “agreeing” to reinstate the old price. Consequently, the office opted against imposing an administrative fine on the station owner.

It was much more critical with regard to the supplier’s conduct, saying it wanted to issue a fine.

However, that was not possible because of a Constitutional Court judgment handed down last May which barred the Director General for Competition from imposing fines on grounds that such powers were only vested in a proper court. Consequently, until the required legal amendments are enacted, the watchdog will remain unable to enforce its own decisions when imposing fines.

Though the supplier declined to comment when this newspaper asked whether it would be challenging the decision, Consumer Affairs Minister Helena Dalli told Parliament recently San Lucian Oil had initiated proceedings before two separate bodies.

Apart from taking the case to the Competition and Consumer Appeals Tribunal, the supplier also filed an application before the Civil Court, Dr Dalli said in reply to a series of parliamentary questions tabled by Opposition MP Clyde Puli.

It also transpires that, at present, the Competition Office is investigating 10 other complaints. These involve three telecommunications companies, two of which are involved in the entertainment field, two in the energy sector and another three connected to lotteries, beverages and school uniforms.

Dr Dalli also informed Nationalist MP Chris Said last month that, in 2015, only two private entities had been slapped with a fine by the office.

The first case involved a company in the education sector which was fined €1,000 over delays to submit requested information. The second involved an enterprise in the food industry that was fined €2,000 for its failure to notify the authorities about the excessive concentration of a particular substance.

In both cases, the company paid the fines.

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