According to the Guardian Royal Mail fined by French competition regulator. Royal Mail was fined €55m (£40m) by the French authorities after GLS parcel subsidiary’s role in colluding on prices.
The punishment was part of €671m of fines imposed on 20 companies and the TLF trade association for cooperating on annual price increases for parcel deliveries from 2004 to 2010.
Royal Mail was one of several companies fined for planning to fix prices resulting in reduced competition.
The regulator said: “Meetings were organised regularly before and after new pricing rounds, which enabled the companies to homogenise their price demands and secure their commercial negotiations. The discussions were kept secret and there was no official record taken.”
The fine was reduced to 18% because Royal Mail cooperated and accepted the watchdog’s judgment.
Royal Mail fined by French competition regulator.
The largest fines:
- €196m – Geodis, the logistics arm of France’s state-owned railway SNCF.
- €99m – Chronopost, part of France’s La Poste group.
- €81m – DHL Express
- €58m – TNT Express
Royal Mail representatives said: “Royal Mail recognises the absolute need to comply with European and national competition law and the necessity to prevent infringements. It has implemented an enhanced compliance programme in GLS France in order to strengthen the culture of competition law compliance”.
