NMa Netherlands Competition Authority

Companies that fail to comply with the Dutch Competition Act are dealt with. Arrangements between competitors about prices or clients, for example, are prohibited. Companies that do make such arrangements constitute a cartel. The NMa sees to it that companies do not impede mutual competition. That is why we carry out investigations. If we believe the violation has been proven, we can impose a fine. Companies can file objections and appeals against fines.

There are many different ways in which the NMa gets its information about companies that have committed violations. We receive tip-offs, people file complaints, or a company confesses a cartel. But we also discover illegal agreements by market research of our own.

• Submit tip-offs

Are you or your company involved in a cartel? Have you violated the Dutch Competition Act? Come clean and contact the NMa about this. If you provide information about your cartel, and you fully cooperate with the investigation, you may end up having to pay a lower fine or even none at all. This is called ‘leniency’.

• Confess your cartel

When we obtain information, we want to know for certain what is going on. That is why we check tip-offs and complaints carefully. If we have any suspicions, we will further investigate the matter. Sometimes we do not do anything with information we obtain, because there may be other, more pressing matters, or because we do not have enough staff members at that point to further investigate the case. That is not to say we might come back to the case at a later point in time.

If we have strong suspicions, we could carry out investigations at a company’s premises. We gather evidence then. We ask questions and examine data that we find on the spot. We could also visit a company without advance notice. We do not disclose what companies we investigate, not even to other companies that are involved in a case.

If we are of the opinion that there is a cartel, we take further steps. The Competition Department draws up a report. The report and the entire dossier is handed over to the NMa’s Legal Department. The companies that are involved in the violation receive our investigative report. They are given the opportunity to respond thereto, either in writing or orally (during a hearing).

If the evidence is not refuted, the NMa can impose a sanction: a fine, an order subject to periodic penalty payments, a binding instruction, or a combination of any of these. The decision in which a sanction is imposed will be disclosed (in Dutch).

If a company does not agree with the decision in which a fine was imposed on it, it can file an objection against it with the NMa. In cases of objections, the NMa will review the case a second time. If the NMa upholds the sanction in its decision on objection, the company that was sanctioned has the opportunity to appeal the decision with the District Court of Rotterdam. A last resort are appeal proceedings with the Dutch Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal (CBb).

• Method (in Dutch) 
• Powers of the NMa (in Dutch)
• Anti-cartel video 'Price Fixing' of Singapore's Competition Commission [YouTube]