Supreme Court confirms abuse of dominant position for Orange, cuts fine to EUR 23.83m

The High Court of Cassation and Justice (ICCJ – Supreme Court) has irrevocably confirmed on March 29, 2018 the violation of the Competition Law by Orange, which abused its dominant position in relation to Netmaster Communications, but has reduced the fine from RON 147.9 million (EUR 34.8 million) to RON 110.9 million (EUR 23.83 million), the Competition Council has announced on Monday.

In 2011, the Competition Council sanctioned Orange and Vodafone companies for refusing to give Netmaster access to their telephone networks, hotnews.ro informs.

The two companies have a monopoly in their own networks, and according to the European competition rules, a refusal of a dominant company may be an abuse in the absence of objective justification.

Orange and Vodafone had the obligation to observe both the regulations of the relevant authority (ANCOM), but also the provisions in the field of competition respectively, as they were not allowed to abusively use their dominant position.

“Companies that hold a dominant position can adopt any strategies needed to defend their commercial interests, but they must have a non-discriminatory behaviour in relations with small companies – customers, suppliers, competitors,” Bogdan Chiriţoiu, President of the Competition Council said.

The two companies, Orange and Vodafone, have challenged the Competition Council’s decision in court. The Bucharest Court of Appeals had different solutions in both cases and, as a result, the High Court of Cassation and Justice (ICCJ) sent again, to the first court, to be re-judged. Thus, in 2017, the Bucharest Court of Appeals re-judged the files confirming the violation of the Competition Law by the two companies. In the Orange case, the decision was confirmed by the ICCJ. The Vodafone file will be judged by the ICCJ this year.