OTIS-KONE ITALIA-SCHINDLER
PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
Italy's leading lift manufacturers found liable
At its meeting on 11 May 2000, the Competition Authority concluded an investigation into Assoascensori-Associazione Nazionale Industrie Ascensori e Scale Mobili (the national association of lift and escalator manufacturers) and its 14 member companies, and found that their conduct constituted an agreement restricting competition, in violation of section 2(2) of the Competition Act. The authority also found the leading lift manufacturing and maintenance companies,Otis SpA, Kone Italia SpA and Schindler SpA, liable for abuse of dominant position, in violation of section 3 the Competition Act.
The conduct deemed to be anti-competitive was, firstly, the imposition by this association of manufacturers of general contractual terms and conditions for the supply and assembly of lifts, and in particular of a price clause intended to standardize the commercial policies of the member companies.
The conduct of Otis, Kone and Schindler, on the other hand, was the refusal to supply original spare parts of their own lifts to independent maintenance firms.
There was no objective justification for their refusal, sometimes explicit and sometimes implicit, to supply spare parts, which had the sole purpose of guaranteeing that the manufacturers were able to maintain their own lifts and of preventing, or at all events seriously hampering, access to the lify maintenance market by any independent companies.
In view of the serious nature of the offences and their duration, which was to the detriment of both competitors and consumers, the Authority imposed fines on the companies involved in the proceedings totalling 18,700,000,000 lire.
Rome, 29 May 2000