The Chairman of the Office confirmed that RITCHY EU concluded prohibited anticompetitive agreements
RITCHY EU is a distributor of electronic cigarettes and fillings therefor. According to the decision, within the period between 6 September 2017 and 31 March 2019 the undertaking determined the level of the lowest prices for which its goods should be sold by its customers and thus infringed the Act on the Protection of Competition as well as the EU competition rules. The undertaking monitored that the customers, i.e. retailers, comply with the determined minimum prices; non-compliance with this rule led to the termination of cooperation.
The illegal conduct of RITCHY EU distorted the competition in the relevant market of the electronic cigarettes and fillings thereof within the territory of the Czech Republic. The prohibited agreements potentially affected trade between Member states of the EU. The conduct of RITCHY EU resulted in the unification of (the higher) buying prices at wholesale/retail level and in higher retail prices for consumers.
According to the Chairman, the Office correctly concluded that RITCHY EU breached not only the Act on the Protection of Competition, but the Article 101 of the TFEU as well. The Chairman rejected the objections of the company concerning incorrect definition of relevant markets and market shares of RITCHY EU, as well as objections against finding of facts and amount of the fine, as unfounded.
Press Unit of the Office
21/018 – R0158/2020
2025-07-02 / Office Fines Major Cartel in Railway Construction Sector More Than CZK 150 million By its first-instance decision, the Office for the Protection of Competition has imposed fines totalling CZK 157,693,000 on six undertakings for a series of cartel agreements related to public contracts...
2025-06-12 / EUROMEDIA and PEMIC Concentration Approval Subject to Commitments, Acquirer is Obliged to Divest the Wholesale Distribution of Printed Books The Office for the Protection of Competition (hereinafter referred to as “the Office”) has approved the concentration of undertaking EUROMEDIA GROUP, a.s., PEMIC BOOKS a.s. and BOOKNET s.r.o. subject...
2025-06-10 / The Office Launches Sector Inquiry in the Area of Publicly Accessible Charging Stations for Electric Vehicles The Office for the Protection of Competition (hereinafter referred to as "the Office") has launched a sector inquiry into the area of publicly accessible charging stations. Specifically, it is examining...
2025-04-25 / New competition tools: the way to more efficient competition law enforcement Opening remarks of the Chairman of the Office for the Protection of Competition Petr Mlsna delivered at the Interanational Chamber of Commerce Czech the Antitrust Conference in Prague on 24 April 2025...
2025-04-22 / MIDs Competition Authorities: Strengthening Competitiveness and Competition in the EU Single Market The Czech Office for the Protection of Competition, together with the competition authorities of Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Austria, has issued a joint statement warning against...
2025-01-08 / Google Made Changes to one of its Services in Reaction to the Investigation of the Office Last year, the Office for the Protection of Competition investigated possible abuse of a dominant position by Google Czech Republic, s.r.o, its parent company Google International LLC and Google Ireland...
2024-11-19 / Pet Food Supplier VAFO Has to Pay CZK 120 million for Prohibited Resale Price Fixing The Office for the Protection of Competition (hereinafter referred to as “the Office”) imposed a fine of CZK 120,121,000 on the undertaking VAFO PRAHA (hereinafter referred to as "VAFO") for the...
2024-10-16 / The Office is Conducting a Dawn Raid at the Premises of the Undertaking Seznam.cz Following numerous media inquiries, we confirm that the Office for the Protection of Competition (hereinafter referred to as “the Office“) is conducting an unannounced inspection of Seznam.cz