Hp Slovakia Called Out For Abuse In Market Position.

[news]

Hp Slovakia Called Out For Abuse In Market Position. 
By Iris Kopcsay.
(Google Translated)
 
The complaint made available to the editorial office is primarily directed against HP Inc Slovakia (HP SK) and claims that the company by its actions restricts competition or helps to create conditions to restrict competition. HP responded that it was doing business in accordance with Slovak law.

However, there is a reasonable suspicion that HP Inc. Slovakia, Pergamon and Clean Tonery have entered into an agreement to restrict competition in relation to several public procurement contracts. On this basis, Pergamon and Clean Toners were supposed to become repeated and regular winners in several public procurement contracts.
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Adriana Olyšavská diary tells the truth that the Office has carried out unannounced inspections of several entrepreneurs in this regard. "The investigation is currently under way, but the Office does not provide further information on the matter during the investigation," the spokeswoman said.

How does the market work?
The petition states that "in relation to the above public procurement, it is possible to observe the suspicious conduct of HP Inc. Slovakia, p. r. about. (HP SK). "The author of the podcast details how the distribution system, which is the subject of his criticism, operates. HP (Hawlett-Packart) is a repre- sentative of the printer and toner manufacturer for HP printers in the Slovak Republic and has a distribution system on its territory that is located at different levels of the production chain. The complaint states that HP, as a manufacturer's representative, supplies the goods to its distributors. HP SK allegedly does not deliver the goods to other persons, such as its distributors, that is to say, the company itself does not deliver the goods to entrepreneurs at the wholesale or retail level of the chain.

It does not sell its products to final customers, among which are also contracting authorities. HP SK has three distributors for the territory of Slovakia, including ED System. Other distributors are LAMA Plus Slovakia and ASBIS SK. These three authorized distributors then supply the so-called " HP partners, or other people at the wholesale level of the chain. The initiator is named by 18 companies, which, according to his information, are among HP's partners. The Distributor, by the originator, generally does not sell the goods at retail level or to the final customer.

HP's partners then supply the goods to retailers or final customers. It is also necessary to include public purchasers among final customers. Companies at the retail level of the chain generally do not deliver goods to public purchasers. Consequently, the contracting authority delivers printers and toners as a matter of course only to HP partners. As part of the distribution system, HP partners can not claim goods from other than contract distributors. At the same time, the partners are also not allowed to take the goods from other countries because other countries have similar distribution systems as in the SR.

Distributors from other countries also have a ban on delivering to our territory, given the limitations of the distribution system.

Do taxpayers pay for it?
In order for HP to become a partner of HP, it must meet turnover plans and be certified with quality and expertise. HP SK provides multiple levels of partnership, depending on the volume of turnover and volumes that HP collects. HP SK motivates its customers to get more subscriptions by getting a higher level of partnership. "We note that even though HP partners are picking up goods from distributors, their affiliate relationship is with HP SK and not a distributor," he says.

The benefits associated with the partnership, such as the discounts provided, are then claimed by HP's partner HP from HP, and not from a distributor who only supplies the HP partner. These benefits, at the same time, HP's HP partner, as a result of the initiative, apply to HP after the trade, that is, the delivery, not in advance.

The incentive draws attention to the specificity of the market for printers and toners. One toner of another brand can not be used on a single branding device. Each printer has a specific type of toner, so even from a technical point of view, it is not possible for the HP brand printer to be supplied with another brand of toner, such as Canon.

This means that in the event that the contracting authority's request for toner for HP printers or copiers is available, only companies authorized to deliver HP toner cartridges may enter the competition. And these are, as a rule, only companies included in its distribution system. In the context of public procurement, contracting authorities define the subject matter of the supply as 'original toners of a particular type and brand', ie toners for specific types and brands of printers.

However, this is not the case for purchases by private purchasers as they also buy non-genuine toners that meet the same quality standards as the originals, so in this case it is possible for the HP printer to supply toner from a company other than HP. Public tenderers usually contract for 2-4 years, respectively. until the financial limits are exhausted.

According to the author, we can talk about the private and public market, with about 50 percent of printers, copiers or other similar devices used by public purchasers being HP's trademarks. The public sector is largely buying HP-branded equipment, as stated in a written allegation.

The initiative also highlights the issue of issuing quality certificates that are accustomed to requests from tenderers in public procurement – those HPs will not issue outside their distribution framework. "Thus, in order for a company, for example, to deliver goods to a contracting authority that has identified the requirement of proving the originality and authenticity of products, it must at least be HP's partner.

Non-HP business partners will not get such a certificate, even though they sell genuine HP products purchased from the official HP distribution network, "he said. The complaint also details the functioning of discounts.

In conclusion, the complainant summed up its reservations as follows: "All of the above facts suggest that in relation to the market there is a restriction of exclusion of the competition through the abuse of a dominant position, vertical agreements, which has an impact on the final price of products, to maximize the profit of companies participating in the activities, namely HP SK, Pergamon and Clean Tonery. "The team explained why the Antimonopoly Office asked for an investigation.

There is a fine of up to 10% of the turnover
HP Inc. Slovakia has not responded to the truth. Pravda newspaper turned to the US headquarters in the US and came up with the following answer: "HP can not comment on speculation. HP Inc. strictly acts in accordance with the laws of the country in which it operates and operates in the highest standards of business discipline. Our concern is to supply our customers and business partners with products and services of the highest quality in accordance with Slovak law, "she said on behalf of Ekaterina Trofimova, spokesperson for Israel and Russia with a Moscow address.

Branislav Strašifták of Clean Tonery, on the question of whether he wants to comment, responded that "not at present". He just underlined that the investigation is still ongoing. Pergamon did not respond to the address.

As stated in the Antimonopoly Office's press release, the very fact that the Office has carried out inspections does not yet mean that the parties concerned have violated the competition rules nor did they prejudge the conclusions of the investigation. However, if the suspicion is confirmed, the Office may by law impose a fine in such a case up to 10% of the entrepreneur's turnover for the previous closed accounting period.
https://spravy.pravda.sk/

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July 31, 2018 at 10:55 AM