Competition offences in Guyana…Regulators probing several cases of bid rigging – Ramesh Dookhoo

Jun 25, 2014 News

---

In April 2006, Parliament passed a Competition and Fair Trading Act, which targets offences such as price fixing, conspiracy, bid rigging, misleading advertisements, anti-competitiveness, abuse of dominant position, and resale price maintenance.

But according to a 2013 Investment Climate Statement – (Guyana) Report by the US Department of State, “The Act provides for a Competition Commission to have authority to review anti-competitive business practices, but the Commission is not fully functional…the Commission receives complaints, however, it remains inadequately staffed.”
Members of the political Opposition however, have supported the claim of the report stating that competition offences still continue to plague the efficiency and effectiveness of doing business in Guyana.
It was also posited that more should have been done, and still needs to be done, by the Competition and Consumers Affairs Commission (CCAC). It is also believed by the Opposition that the entity has not had a significant impact as it relates to effectively addressing the issues which hinder competitiveness in Guyana.
But the Chairman of the CCAC, Ramesh Dookhoo, begs to differ. He said that while he does not negate the fact that the issues are prevalent, the Commission, he believes, has taken the necessary steps thus far to continue making a significant impact as it relates to the said issues.
Consumer Affairs issues in Guyana are usually handled by the Consumer Affairs Department and the Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission. The Consumer Affairs Department in the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce is the first recourse in terms of consumer issues, and for resolving those issues by moral suasion. The CCAC on the other hand, deals with legal issues of consumer affairs; issues that cannot be resolved by moral suasion. It became fully operational in September 2011.
Dookhoo pointed out that while some of the offences have been reported, there are some such as price fixing, which the Commission has taken the initiative to deal with. He said that in the case of price fixing (a practice whereby rival companies come to an illicit agreement not to sell goods or services below a certain price), “the Commission has dealt with this in several areas and continues to examine other sectors where this offence is particularly prevalent.”
While admitting that the Commission, at the moment is without a director, Dookhoo said that it will soon be appointing one, as its former head retired three months ago.
He also confessed that there are a lot of uncompetitive deals in Guyana, but the Commission cannot address all.
“Once a report or complaint is made, we take it very seriously. For the moment, we have effectively dealt with a number of complaints which come before us. We only have one case that is still before the court and a few which are pending. As a future project, we are working on developing a website so consumers can be able to see the cases we have dealt with and how effectively we have done so.
“And I want to make this clear; it is not that the Commission waits until a complaint comes in before it takes corrective action. In some cases, we have gone out and dealt with issues. For example, some stores have been putting up signs which read, ‘Goods not returnable’ and that is illegal. That should not be happening, and we have been dealing with businesses seriously when they are found doing that. We will continue to enforce the law where this is concerned and we will go into a different phase this year.”
Bid rigging, also referred to as collusive tendering, occurs when two or more competitors agree they will not compete genuinely with each other for tenders, allowing one of the cartel members to ‘win’ the tender. Participants in a bid rigging may take turns to be the ‘winner’ by agreeing about the way they submit tenders, including some competitors agreeing not to tender.
As it relates to this offence, Dookhoo said that the Commission has received complaints about this, and as such, plans to meet with the Tender Board and a senior Finance Ministry official, with a view to addressing the various claims.
“Our position is to meet with the Tender Board and deal with them in terms of explaining the seriousness of this offence, as they are the only people who are able to see this, especially on the national level. So yes, we are taking steps where this is concerned, and as such we will continue to pursue this.”
With respect to the abuse of dominant position, the CCAC Chairman said that there have been three resolved cases, one matter withdrawn by the complainant, and one before the court.

---

---