Indecopi always had problems prosecuting and sanctioning bad commercial practices associated with business cartels that prevent, restrict or distort free competition in the national market.
How? Since 2020, Law No. 31040, which modified the Penal Code and the Consumer Protection and Defense Code, incorporated the figures of “abuse of power” and “hoarding” into criminal law; in addition to approving changes in the articles that deal with “speculation” and “adulteration”. However, the first one did not meet the essential requirements of a standard of this nature.
In practice, the modifications made to the Criminal Code did not consider criminal sanctions for the most serious cases in which the cartels intervened, nor did they establish the protection of effective collaborators who decided to take advantage of the Indecopi Leniency Program.
Previously, Indecopi welcomed the measure that contributes to sanctioning cartels. Photo: diffusion
For this reason, regulatory bodies such as the Indecopi and Osiptel did not have the rules to guarantee the reservation of confidential collaborators. Defects that, of course, distanced Peru from the free competition standards promoted globally by the OECD.
All of this came to an end with the promulgation, yesterday, by the Executive, of Law No. 31775, promoted by Congresswoman Adriana Tudela (Avanza País), and which will henceforth punish these individuals with sentences of between 2 and 6 years in prison. agents that distort free competition.
To this end, it makes modifications to article 232 of the Penal Code in order to guarantee the viability of the Leniency Program and, in this way, strengthen the fight against cartels that harm the economy and consumers. Thus, Indecopi and the Osiptel within a maximum period of five business days, counted from the issuance of the final resolution on the existence of an anti-competitive agreement or practice, the case must be reported to the Public Ministry.
The regulatory entity itself has accompanied the design process of the device and indicated that the renewed specification “greatly overcomes the shortcomings of Law No. 31040.”
Collaborators will benefit from the new law
One of the most notorious cases of cartels dismantled by Indecopi was that of the ‘Construction Club’, in which it sanctioned 33 companies and 26 executives due to anti-competitive conduct by distributing 112 tenders to carry out works for more than US$3,550 million, between 2002 and 2016.
Another case is the well-remembered cartel in public tenders for Minedu school textbooks that had the objective of printing books for public schools. Even the purchase of oxygen during the pandemic has affected these practices.
Source: Larepublica
Alia is a professional author and journalist, working at 247 news agency. She writes on various topics from economy news to general interest pieces, providing readers with relevant and informative content. With years of experience, she brings a unique perspective and in-depth analysis to her work.
