AGCM

The Order is said to have invited its members not to publish their fees on a website. Proceeding launched following complaint from a consumer association.

The Italian Competition Authority, at its meeting on 16 October 2008, opened an investigation to determine whether the conduct of the Order of Dentists of the Province of Bolzano in dealing with those of its members who had taken part in the “Price Transparency Online” initiative constitutes an anti-competitive arrangement.

This step follows receipt of a complaint from the Centro Tutela Consumatori Utenti di Bolzano (CTCU, or Consumer Protection Centre of Bolzano) which since 2005 has published on its website a table comparing prices for equivalent treatment by  dentists in the Province of Bolzano, where the practitioners consented. According to the complaint, in recent months the Order requested that professionals revoke their authorization to publish fees on the Association's website, inviting them to “be very careful not to do anything […] contrary to the decorum of the profession” and threatening possible disciplinary action in that publication of fees on a public website was “a serious contravention” of their ethical code. Following this letter, a number of dentists who had initially participated in the CTCU's initiative withdrew their consent for the publication of their fee structures.

The investigation must be concluded by 30 June 2009 and must determine whether the conduct complained of constricted advertising by dentists belonging to the Register maintained by the Order of the Province of Bolzano, thus restricting competition amongst professionals.

Rome, 30 October 2008