Romania’s Competition Council launched an investigation into a possible abuse of dominant position by Delgaz Grid, a company of the E.ON Romania group, according to a press release of the competition authority.

Should the Competition Council find violation of the competition rules, the company involved is liable to a fine of up to 10% of the turnover.

The company is checked for having possibly applied discriminatory treatment in relation to operators authorized to carry out technical checks and inspections of natural gas installations. The competition authority suspects that the gas distributor gave preferential treatment to another company within the E.ON Romania group, which may have the effect of increasing the costs for end-users by reducing their ability to choose the companies authorized to carry out checks and technical revisions of natural gas installations.

Natural gas distribution company Delgaz Grid has, through the effect of specific legislation, a geographic monopoly (dominant position) on the market. According to the regulations issued by the market regulator (ANRE), the natural gas distribution firm holding the license for the specific area has the obligation to maintain a database of the technical inspections / revisions of the installation by the authorized economic operators.

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