 Six pest control companies fined for anti—competitive behaviour
SINGAPORE : For the first time in Singapore, a group of companies has been fined for anti—competitive behaviour.
Six pest control companies were found to have infringed Section 34 of the Competition Act which prohibits rigging bids for tenders. They have been fined a total of S$262,759.66.
This is the first such case for the Competition Commission of Singapore, which was established in 2005.
The six companies are Aardwolf Pestkare; Alliance Pest Management; Elite Pest Management; Killem Pest; PestBusters and Rentokil Initial Singapore.
Their fines ranged from S$4,000 to a high of about S$92,000 — mainly based on their annual turnover. They were caught helping each other to fix bid prices for project tenders.
An incumbent company of a project will send e—mails or even SMSes to the other pest control companies, asking them to submit bids at higher prices to ensure that the incumbent company will win the bid. The companies involved took turns to do this.
Teo Eng Cheong, Chief Executive, Competition Commission of Singapore, said: "In 2006, we received a complaint from a company that was tendering out a project for termite treatment.
"The procurement manager was very alert. He noticed that in the submissions for the tender, there were some documents which suggested there could be collusion among the tenderers. And he alerted us to this."
So far, 23 general complaints have been received since November last year.
In a statement to the media, Rentokil said, "The competition laws of Singapore are quite new, but the company is taking full compliance with all applicable competition laws very seriously.
"Enhanced training programmes and communication procedures have been introduced to reinforce this policy and employees’ understanding of their obligations under the new laws."
The Competition Commission has not ruled out the possibility of rewarding whistle blowers in the future. It also plans to set up an intelligence unit and organise seminars to educate businesses on anti—competitive behaviour. — CNA/ms | 
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