The court is to again deliberatе on the fine for the Chamber of Authorized Engineers

Brno - The Brno Regional Court is likely to annul the fine of 500,000 CZK against the Czech Chamber of Authorized Engineers and Technicians active in construction at the beginning of February. The chamber received the sanction from the Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS) for allegedly unlawfully setting prices for the work of its members. However, the Supreme Administrative Court (NSS) ruled last year that the chamber should not have received the sanction according to the law. The regional court, which initially sided with the ÚOHS, must now comply with the opinion of the higher instance. The hearing is scheduled for February 5, Judge David Raus said today.
    The chamber, with approximately 25,000 members, approved its regulations in 2002, which included prices for the services of authorized civil engineers and technicians. "Although the chamber declared that this was a non-binding document, the information on the level of fees for chamber members was nonetheless inspiring," said ÚOHS spokesperson Kristián Chalupa.
    This would mean that the prices for all chamber members would essentially be uniform, and customers would not have a choice among multiple price offers. However, according to the antitrust office, these prices are not subject to regulation, and therefore should arise based on market supply and demand.
    Although the NSS acknowledged that such a price list could threaten competition, it ruled that the ÚOHS could not penalize the very issuance of the price list according to the law. The chamber has the right to issue price lists and fee regulations, which are of a recommendatory nature, according to the administrative court.