Commission imposes fines for abuse of market dominance

In March and April 2011 the Commission for the Protection of Competition was active in imposing fines for abuses of dominant positions:

• Macedonian Telecom AD abused its dominant position in the market for fixed public telephone networks and services in Macedonia in the period from July 1 2006 to February 28 2007, and was fined Md61.377 million (about €1 million). Macedonian Telecom AD had charged different handling fees to different customers - Md6 to customers with the minimum package, Md25 for residential customers and Md50 for business customers.
• EVN Makedonia was fined Md30.627 million (about €500,000) for abuse of its dominant position in the electrical energy market between May 27 2006 and February 28 2008, by imposing a monthly handling fee on Md6 to retail consumers.
• ONE Telekomunikacijski Uslugi was fined Md15,313,500 (about €250,000) for charging the caller from the moment of opening a voice mailbox (ie, as soon as the voice mailbox notification message begins) without giving the caller the opportunity to choose whether he or she wanted to leave a voicemail message and be charged for it). Moreover, the caller was not warned that he or she would be charged despite the unavailability of the number called. T-mobile was fined €785,426 for the same offence at the end of 2010.

For further information on this topic please contact Srdjana Petronijević at Moravcevic Vojnovic Zdravkovic in cooperation with Schoenherr by telephone (+381 11 320 26 00), fax (+381 11 320 26 10) or email (s.petronijevic@schoenherr.rs).