'Abuse of dominance' cases in the spotlight

In an investigation very similar
to that of the SA Competition
Commission (SACC) probing
Transnet for excessive pricing
and giving preferential
treatment
to certain
customers to
the exclusion
of others, the
Competition
and Consumer
Protection
Commission
(CCPC) of
Zambia has just
found Zambia
Airports
Corporation
Limited (ZACL)
guilty of much
the same charges.
It slammed ZACL with
fines and orders to change its
behaviour after being found
guilty of anti-competitive
behaviour and abuse of
dominance – particularly in
its involvement in the ground
handling sector, where
it competes with private
companies despite being the
manager and operator of
airports in Zambia.
And this delighted Don
MacDonald, MD of the
Zambian-based ground
handling company Zega
Limited, which was the
complainant in this case.
He told FTW
that, in August
last year, Zega
had informed
the CCPC
that it had
been denied
access to the
Cute network,
essential for its
load control and
for determining
weight and
balancing of
aircraft.
Added to that
Zega had been restricted to the
use of four check-in counters
compared to its previous six,
and extra charges had been
imposed.
Zega pointed out that
ZACL was charging it ramp
access fees of US$300, which
it either had to transfer to
the airline or absorb itself –
making its operations more
expensive. Also that ZACL
did not handle cargo itself but
sub-contracted it out, which
Zega alleged was to a single
operator and which it saw as a
breach of tender regulations.
Its final complaint was that
it believed that ZACL had
given Dutch carrier, KLM, a
two-year control of ground
handling free of charge.
And that this amounted to
applying dissimilar conditions
to equivalent transactions.
And the court findings
were all in favour of Zega.
“Last month,” MacDonald
informed FTW, “the CCPC
fined ZACL 3% of its annual
turnover, and ordered that it
should desist from abusing its
dominant position of market
power and issuing threats to
operators in the market.
“It also ordered it to
normalise charges and
trading conditions to both
client airlines and Zega
in a manner that did not
affect trade or result in
discrimination.”
Findings which make
anticipating the possible
results of the SACC
investigation of Transnet all
that more intriguing.
INSERT
ZACL was ordered to
pay fines and change
its behaviour after
being found guilty
of anti-competitive
behaviour and abuse
of dominance.