Ofcom to investigate corruption in delivery sector
Communications regulator Ofcom has opened an investigation under the Act into suspected market sharing and/or customer allocation arrangements between operators in the business parcel delivery sector in the UK and/or European Union.
Section 2 of the Act prohibits agreements between undertakings that have as their object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition, where this may affect trade within the UK.
It is not clear which organisations are being investigated. The Ofcom website states: “This investigation is at an early stage and we have not reached a view on whether there has been a breach of competition law. If Ofcom finds there is sufficient evidence of one or more breaches, we will issue a Statement of Objections to the relevant operators. “
The investigation began last week but the regulator waited until Monday to say it was looking into the sector.
This follows the news last week about Ofcom fining Royal Mail £50 million for breaching competition law.
See the full Post & Parcel story.
See the statement on the Ofcom website about the corruption investigation:
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/bulletins/competition-bulletins/open-cases/cw_01222