The Swedish Competition Authority fines HVAC company for resale price maintenance

Tapwell AB delivers various products, including faucets and accessories for kitchens and bathrooms. According to the Swedish Competition Authority, the company limited retailers' ability to determine the prices of its products for sale online to primarily private individuals for two and a half years.

"Restricting retailers' ability to independently determine the selling price may be prohibited under competition law. RPM can harm competition since price is one of the most important competitive factors. It could result in higher costs for consumers. In this case, the fact that it also involves online sales is particularly serious because RPM then has widespread impact," says Rikard Jermsten, Director General of the Swedish Competition Authority.

According to the Swedish Competition Authority, Tapwell had a pricing policy that imposed a minimum selling price that the company's retailers were not allowed to undercut in their marketing and pricing. Tapwell employed various methods to ensure retailers did not deviate from the pricing policy. For instance, the company monitored compliance and issued warnings to retailers who set prices lower than the minimum allowable selling price.

According to the Swedish Competition Authority's decision, Tapwell is now required to pay SEK 16.9 million in administrative fines for violating the prohibition on anti-competitive cooperation.