The Competition Authority (AdC) was again condemned, now by the Supreme Court of Justice, for refusing to investigate a complaint of restrictive practices in fuel competition against Galp. The complaint will come from the Automóvel Clube de Portugal (ACP).
In a statement, the ACP informs that the Supreme Court of Justice (STJ) considered that “the evidence of restrictive competition practices, which supported the complaint filed in 2010, should have been investigated, as the AdC was not allowed to act other than to proceed with the opening of an investigation”. “The Supreme Court ruling considered that AdC had a legal duty to investigate the complaint presented to it by the ACP in 2010 and that it could not have filed it without having previously carried out any investigation into a set of Galp practices and behaviors that indicated the existence of restrictive practices in the liquid fuel sector”.The ACP's complaint stemmed from the opening of a 'low-cost' gas station by Galp in Setúbal, opposite another regular service station of the same brand, which the ACP considered to be proof that the price of fuel could be lowered. national and not just in places where regular posts have great competition. We recall that AdC had already been condemned by the Competition, Regulation and Supervision Court, having in the meantime filed an appeal that was unfavorable to it.