POWER CABLE COMPANY CLEARED OF CARTEL CHARGES
 

The Tribunal has dismissed a case of price fixing against power cable manufacturer, Tulisa (Pty) Ltd, after finding that there was insufficient evidence to show that the company had been part of a cartel which sought to fix the price of power cables from 2001 to around 2010.
 
At the time of the hearing of the matter, three other companies accused in the case had all entered into settlement agreements with the Competition Commission. These companies were: Alvern Cables (Pty) Ltd, South Ocean Electric Wire Company (Pty) Ltd and Aberdare cables (Pty) Ltd.
 
In its referral, the Commission alleged that: (i) Tulisa’s representatives had attended meetings with the other accused in the matter in order to fix the price of power cables; and (ii) that Tulisa was party to a concerted practise because it would base its prices on a competitor’s price list.
 
The Tribunal has found that there was insufficient evidence to place a representative of Tulisa’s at a meeting of competitors in any period of time within the prescription period. Further, the Tribunal has held that Tulisa, basing its prices on a price list of a competitor obtained from a customer, was more akin to conscious parallelism -- a feature of oligopolistic markets -- which may be indicative of cartelisation but is not conclusive proof of the existence of such.
 
Accordingly, the Tribunal has dismissed the Commission’s case.
 
*Note: The order & reasons can be accessed on the Tribunal’s website at: https://www.comptrib.co.za/cases/complaint/retrieve_case/2556