Does an undertaking’s reputation affect its market power on the relevant market? Case comment to the judgment of the Supreme Court of 2 April 2009 – PPKS (Ref. No. III SK 30/08)

Michał Mijal

In a decision (RDG 46/2005) issued on 30 December 2005, the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) established an infringement of Article 8(2)(1) of the Act of 15 December 2000 on Competition and Consumer Protection by the state-owned Motor Transportation Enterprise (PPKS) in Słupsk2. According to this rule, an abuse of a dominant position may consist of a direct or indirect imposition of unfair prices, including predatory or glaringly low prices, delayed payment terms or other trading conditions. In the discussed case, the practice involved the indirect imposition of unfair travel fares by way of a ‘major fare reductions’ scheme as of November 2004 in order to eliminate a given Competitor. According to UOKiK, PPKS abused its dominating position as a commuter bus line operator with bookings based on one-off and monthly tickets. The relevant market was specified as the bus commuter route between the ‘S’ and ‘G’ municipalities.