ComCom, cartels and a $100,000 phone call

ComCom, cartels and a $100,000 phone call
The Commerce Commission has sent a stern warning about attempted anti-competitive behaviour. (Photo: ComCom
Michael Andrew
What began with a single, seemingly harmless phone call between two Christchurch companies in 2018, ended last week with a $99,000 fine and a stern warning by the Commerce Commission about the consequences of price-fixing – even if it doesn’t actually happen.In January 2018, the director of Specialised Container Services Limited (SCS Christchurch), Grant Tregurtha, called the general manager of Lyttelton Port Company and asked him to raise the price of booking slots for shipping container pickup and delivery – a service both c...

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