Computicket which is owned by Shoprite has agreed to pay a fine of R11 317,000 00 to settle a second prosecution against it by the Competition Commission for alleged abuse of dominance. Photographer: Waldo Swiegers, Bloomberg.
Computicket which is owned by Shoprite, has agreed to pay a fine of R11 317,000 00 to settle a second prosecution against it by the Competition Commission for alleged abuse of dominance.
This follows the Commission’s finding that the ticket dispensing company had entered into exclusive agreements with the majority of its product providers between 2013 and 2018. In turn, Computicket was appointed as the sole provider of outsourced ticketing services to inventory providers.
Computicket distributes tickets for, among others, entertainment events, buses, flights, hotel accommodation, and holiday packages.
The Commission said that the effect of the exclusive agreements concluded between Computicket and the inventory providers, was to exclude competitors from entering into or expanding in the market for outsourced ticket services and depriving end-consumers of choice.
Competition Commissioner Tembinkosi Bonakele, said: “The Commission is pleased that its previous and present prosecutions against Computicket have yielded significant, and lasting change to the outsourced ticket distribution landscape in South Africa, which was under the stranglehold of Computicket through its strategy of locking-in customers in exclusive agreements. These agreements have contributed to the opening up of the outsourced ticket distribution market to competition”.
The settlement between the parties records that the exclusivity provisions in Computicket's agreements have, from 23 October 2019, be removed, and takes cognisance of the changes in the events sector and the market generally. This includes the successful entry of several outsourced ticket distribution firms since the Commission’s previous successful prosecution of Computicket for similar conduct, the Commission said.
In the previous prosecution by the Commission, on 21 January 2019, the Tribunal imposed a fine of R20 million against Computicket for a similar contravention - the only difference being that the period of the contravention was between 2005 – 2010. The Tribunal’s finding against Computicket in the previous prosecution was endorsed on appeal by the Competition Appeal Court.
The latest settlement agreement concluded between the Commission and Computicket is subject to confirmation by the Competition Tribunal.
dieketseng.maleke@inl.co.za
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE
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