INVESTIGATION BEGUN INTO POSSIBLE ABUSE OF A DOMINANT POSITION BY ACQUEDOTTO PUGLIESE
PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
ACQUEDOTTO PUGLIESE: ANTITRUST AUTHORITY BEGINS INVESTIGATION INTO POSSIBLE ABUSE OF A DOMINANT POSITION
The investigation must ascertain whether AQP violated antitrust rules in connecting homes to water and sewerage networks
The Italian Competition Authority, at its meeting on 8 November 2007, decided to open an investigation into Acquedotto Pugliese over possible abuse of a dominant position.
The investigation was launched in response to complaints received from a number of consumers and must ascertain whether the company, within its water district (ambito territoriale ottimale, or ATO) – the largest in Europe, including all of the Region of Puglia and a number of municipalities in neighbouring Regions – violated antitrust rules by extending its monopoly to the works for connecting homes to the water and sewerage systems, which would not seem to be included in the activities assigned exclusively by law to this company.
Acquedotto Pugliese makes the supply of water and the management of waste conditional upon the carrying out of the works for connecting to its system and the pre-payment of charges calculated on the basis of its own parameters, resulting in costs that are higher than those it sustains in carrying out the works.
In this way, AQP would appear to impose on customers an additional unjustified service which is not strictly necessary for the supply of integrated water services, and at an all-in price that is disadvantageous compared with what could be obtained if free market mechanisms were adopted. In effect, the price is calculated based on a larger-than-average installation and is not related to the real costs sustained for the carrying out of the work.
In the Antitrust Authority's view, even if it were accepted that connection services were included in the activities assigned by law to Acquedotto Pugliese, the company's conduct could still be deemed improper in that there would be no justification for an additional connection charge separate from the ATO charge and the connection charge would in any case be excessive.
The investigation must be concluded by 19 June 2008.
Rome, 19 November 2007