Bulgaria's Competition Protection Commission (CPC) has imposed hefty fines on four firms which are revealed to have formed a "cash register" cartel.

Thus, the watchdog has fined Datex OOD BGN 503 000, Daisy Technology EOOD - BGN 156 000, Tremol OOD - BGN 82 500, and Eltrade OOD – BGN 258 000, for breaking the Competition Protection Act.

The CPC has found that that the four firms in question have violated competition rules by coordinating a hike in the prices for end consumers of cash registers and fiscal printers.

The Bulgarian competition watchdog started the investigation in 2009 as a result of media reports about the almost simultaneous price increase of cash registers provided by different companies.

The investigation of the Commission indicates that between 2005 and the first quarter of 2010 the four companies staged two price hikes in a seemingly coordinated fashion – in February 2008 and in April 2009, which is taken to be a clear anti-competition practice.

The watchdog has found evidence about the pricing coordination in the official correspondence among the four firms.

The ruling and fines imposed on Datex, Daisy Technology, Tremol, and Eltrade can be appealed at the Bulgarian Supreme Administrative Court.

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