Peru: Authority cracks down on dialysis price fixers

Peruvian authorities have cracked down on 34 hemodialysis centers, fining them with approx. $1.9 million dollars after having been found to have fixed their prices during bids presented to the government health system, ESSALUD, between 2010 and 2012, said competition regulator INDECOPI.

“The situation is aggravated by additional actions taken by these companies which, having failed to reach their projected prices, jointly refused to participate in the contests in order to force Essalud into launching new processes, adapting the prices initially proposed by the companies” said the regulator.

The companies involved have said their actions should not be classed as price-fixing, since Essalud had final say over the reference prices. Besides, they point out, the alleged agreement was tied to sustainability and structural costs, not to service prices.

In response, the Competition Defense Commission has said that any conduct which seeks to influence the offering price at the market – including agreements on the value of public offers required by any official entity – was to be considered a sanctionable instance of price-fixing.

Full content: El Comercio

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