ARMENIAN IT COMPANIES FINED OVER ANTITRUST BREACHES
12:23 ~U 18.06.13
The Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition has decided
to impose liability measures upon two Armenian IT companies over
breaches of consumer rights.
At its session on Thursday, the Commission made a decision to fine the
computer stores Note.am and It.am, which were found to have misled
consumers through ads. According to the Commission, both companies
had offered services they didn’t actually have.
An advertisement poster posted at the entrance of Note.am said the
consumers seeking a hire purchase can obtain the product at a 0%
interest rate after submitting an identity document. But a further
inspection revealed that the advertised terms were not offered in
practice.
The same breaches were found in IT Master, which too, failed to meet
its advertisement terms while serving consumers.
The companies’ conduct was evaluated as uncontientious competition.
The Commission decided to fine each in an amount of 1 percent of its
previous year’s profit (the maximum amount envisaged by the law).
“That’s quite a huge sum for entrepreneurs,” the Commission’s
President, Artak Shaboyan, said, promising further efforts to fine
companies demonstrating an uncontientious conduct.
Armenian News – Tert.am
From: Baghdasarian