Gas Corporation Bid Collusion... Fair Trade Commission Imposes Fines on 3 Contractors

Collusion Recognized Despite Lack of Direct Evidence
Corrective Orders and 37 Million KRW Fine Imposed

Yonhap News

Three companies that colluded in a bid to purchase a CCTV security system commissioned by Korea Gas Corporation have been sanctioned by the Fair Trade Commission.

On the 19th, the Fair Trade Commission announced that it had decided to impose corrective orders and a total fine of 37 million KRW on three companies?VUTech, Nexchal, and OTS?for violating the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act (Fair Trade Act).

According to the Fair Trade Commission, these three companies agreed on proxy preparation of specification bids, the expected winning bidder, and bid prices in three CCTV security system purchase bids commissioned by Korea Gas Corporation from October to December 2022.

VUTech, which had previously been caught colluding in other bids and was subject to a bid participation restriction by Korea Electric Power Corporation from June to December 2022, led the collusion again due to business difficulties.

It was revealed that for the two bids in which VUTech could not participate, the other companies participated and won the bids, but VUTech stated that it would lead the project execution.

The Fair Trade Commission did not find direct evidence proving the collusion agreement but judged that collusion was recognized due to significant likelihood based on the companies’ behaviors and indirect evidence showing apparent consistency.

The Fair Trade Commission expressed, "Although no direct communication evidence proving the agreement was found this time, this case recognized unfair joint conduct through a legal presumption of agreement, and it is expected to contribute to the expansion of the application of related legal provisions in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.