• Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK, opened an investigation into the pricing of electronic monitoring equipment.
• At the same time, the employees of the Office conducted searches in the headquarters of Dahua Technology Poland, as well as at the premises of three distributors of its products.
• The suspected activities may include the setting of resale prices of devices.

Dahua Technology Poland is the exclusive importer of Dahua brand products, such as IP and HDCVI cameras, DVRs, video intercoms or gate and door stations.UOKiK employees assisted by the Police searched the company's headquarters and the premises of three of its business partners: DTS System sp. z o.o. in Lublin, "MKJ" spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością sp. k. in Gdańsk, E-commerce Partners sp. z o.o. in Częstochowa.

"We took these steps after receiving information that Dahua Technology Poland might have set resale prices of Dahua equipment with authorised distributors. This would mean that entities interested in these products could not purchase them at prices lower than the pre-imposed ones. Therefore, I decided to initiate an investigation in this case and conduct searches, for which we obtained permission from the competent court. We have collected extensive evidence, which we are currently analysing in detail, " says Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.

Signals received by UOKiK indicate that Dahua Technology Poland may have agreed with distributors to resell Dahua products at prices indicated in the price list sent to them. The consequences for not following the arrangements and trying to sell the devices cheaper could include loss of discounts.

The preliminary investigation concerns the matter itself and is not directed against any particular entrepreneur. If the collected evidence confirms the suspicions, the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection will initiate antitrust action and raise charges against particular entities. There is a penalty for participating in an agreement restricting competition of up to 10% of the turnover of the company. Managers responsible for entering into collusion may be fined up to PLN 2 million.

Severe sanctions can be avoided thanks to the leniency programme It provides entrepreneurs participating in an unlawful agreement and managers responsible for collusion with an opportunity to avoid fines or have them reduced. This is an option available on the condition of cooperating with the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection as the "key witness" and providing evidence of, or information about, the existence of an unlawful agreement. Entrepreneurs and managers interested in the leniency programme are invited to contact the Office. At a dedicated telephone number 22 55 60 555, the lawyers of the Office answer all questions regarding leniency applications, including anonymous ones.

We would like to remind you that the Office also runs a programme of acquiring information from anonymous whistleblowers. Visit https://konkurencja.uokik.gov.pl/sygnalista/ and fill out a simple form. The European system we use guarantees full anonymity, also towards the Office.

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
Phone +48 695 902 088, +48 22 55 60 246
E-mail: biuroprasowe@uokik.gov.pl
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL