Russia: LG fined for smartphone price fixing

The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of Russia has fined LG Electronics RUS, a subsidiary of LG corporation, 2.5 million rubles (US$39,200) for coordinating smartphone prices, Telecompaper reported.

Earlier, the FAS found out that the company coordinated economic activity of smartphone resellers leading to fixed prices.

The electronics company was monitoring retailers with the use of a special program for the control of prices for certain LG smartphones. Moreover, the LG subsidiary regularly received reports on prices from retailers, which also used “price robots” for the price control scheme, the watchdog announced.

The amount of fine was mitigated by the fact that the LG subsidiary stopped conducting unlawful activity before the launch of the case and assisted the FAS during the investigation. However, the lengthy period during which the violation was taking place was also taken into account.

In February, FAS conducted inspections in the Russian-based offices of LG and Philips companies on suspicion of price collusion during sales of technology. Audits have been reportedly carried out in technology companies concerning alleged price fixing since 2016.

Full Content: Telecom Paper

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