Consignia cleared of abuse of dominant position
UK Government: Consignia cleared of abuse of dominant position
From M2 COMMUNICATIONS, June 15th, 2001
Jun 15, 2001 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) — Consignia plc’s agreement to allow
Postal Preference Service Limited (PPS) to use Royal Mail trademarks on
consumer lifestyle survey questionnaires does not breach competition law, the
OFT has found. The competition authority started a Competition Act inquiry following
complaints from Claritas (UK) Limited and the Direct Marketing Association
that PPS’s use of the Royal Mail trademarks would undermine competition in the
market for consumer lifestyle data. The OFT investigation found that PPS – which is partly owned by Consignia –
had not achieved substantially higher response rates than its competitors,
that the Royal Mail trademarks had not markedly boosted the response rate, and
that potential customers of PPS data were likely to continue to purchase data
from their current suppliers. In sum, PPS is competing legitimately;
competition is not being undermined. Consignia, which currently has a monopoly in the delivery of ordinary mail,
has therefore been cleared of abusing a dominant position in the UK in breach
of the Chapter II prohibition in the Competition Act 1998. NOTES 1. Consignia is a newly formed company registered in England and Wales under
the Companies Act 1985. It has an issued share capital of GBP50,000 which is
beneficially wholly owned by The Post Office. The assets and business of The
Post Office, including Royal Mail, Parcelforce and Post Office Counters, have
been transferred to Consignia by a statutory transfer. Amongst other services,
Consignia provides a range of letter and parcel services in the UK and
internationally, principally under the Royal Mail, Parcelforce and German
Parcel trade marks. It is currently the only postal operator licensed to
deliver mail costing less than GBP1 per item and weighing less than 350g in
the UK. 2. PPS is a co-operative joint venture company formed on 23 October 2000.
Consignia has a 44.6 per cent shareholding in PPS. The other shareholders are:
PTT Post B. V. (the Dutch postal administration), Direct Vision (UK) Limited,
Tri-Direct Ltd, Bryan Cassady and Thomas Adelbert. The OFT publishes a wide range of consumer leaflets which are available free
from: OFT, PO Box 366, Hayes UB3 1XB 0870 6060321 http://www.oft.gov.uk M2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information provided within
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Inquiries to [email protected]. (C)1994-2001 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD -0- M2 COMMUNICATIONS, 15th June 2001
