197 private security firms have been targeted by unannounced checks conducted by the Competition Council, being suspected of violating the Competition Law – of exchange of information and prices, a press release of the institution informs, according to romanialibera.ro.
The investigation concerns possible infringement of the Competition Law by the Professional Association of Security Companies and its eight members (Rosegur SA, G4S Secure Solutions Ltd., Securitas Services Romania SRL, RPG Security Center Ltd., Magic Safe Security Ltd, Konsalnet Security SA, Morar- Paza and Protectie SRL and Bronec International Company Ltd) and by the Federation Security Services, respectively the associations and the member companies: Romanian Association of Security Industry (13 member companies), the Romanian Association for Security Technique (142 companies) Employers Security Services (34 companies), the Competition Council informs.
According to the Council, the seized documents during these inspections are analysed by the Romanian competition authority, under procedures specific to the investigation.
Unannounced inspections are a preliminary stage of the investigation, and their performance is not a prejudgement of the Competition Council regarding the guilt of the companies and regarding the final outcome of the investigation, CC says.
According to the source, if it finds violations of the competition rules, the companies involved risk fines of up to 10% of their turnover. The companies that cooperate with the competition authority in the leniency programme, may obtain immunity from fines or substantial reduction of the fines.