Peru: INDECOPI slaps fine on municipality over unfair competition

Peru´s market and competition regulator INDECOPI has fined the Municipality of Tacna for S/1,452,159 (approximately US$433,700) over their alleged commission of actions violating fair competition.

The sanction responds to a complaint filed by the company Tracto Latino against the municipality as a result of a tender for the sale of materials for the Provincial Municipality of Tacna, which was found to be directly offering rental services for machinery, fuel sales, and lab services.

“The private activity undertaken by the municipality affected small business owners in the city because the municipality offered lower prices and was not subject to the permits that a private company has to fulfill,” said the company’s attorney. For its part, the manager of Tracto Latino, Orestes Flores Cruz, recalled that during the administration of former mayor Luis Torres Robledo, the commune was the supplier of aggregates and machinery of companies that performed work for reduced taxes. The Commission of the Regional Office of INDECOPI Arequipa, which responded to the complaint, ruled in favor of Tracto Latino and ordered the local authority to suspend all its private business activities.

Full Content: La Republica

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