The Competition Tribunal has dismissed a case of price fixing against power cable manufacturer Tulisa, after finding that there was insufficient evidence to show the company had been part of a cartel that had allegedly sought to fix the price of power cables from 2001 to 2010.
At the time of the tribunal hearing into the matter, three other companies that were accused in the case had all entered into settlement agreements with the Competition Commission.
These companies were Alvern Cables, South Ocean Electric Wire Company and Aberdare Cables.
The commission initially alleged that Tulisa’s representatives had attended meetings with the other accused in the matter to fix the price of power cables and that Tulisa was party to a concerted practice, because it would base its prices on a competitor’s price list.
The tribunal, however, found that there was insufficient evidence to place a Tulisa representative 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 carterlisation, but said it was not conclusive proof as such.