The Competition Appeals Tribunal dismisses Hreyfil's appeal

Appellate Board
The Competition Authority has dismissed Hreyfill's appeal against the Competition Authority.
Kæra Hreyfils turned to the Competition Authority's interim decision that Hreyfli is
It is forbidden to ban or hinder taxi drivers who are in the service of Hreyfill.,
to also make use of the services of other taxi companies. The ruling states that the decision entails „…that
Drivers working for Hreyfill's service are free to choose.
how they utilise their operating licence for the duration of the decision.“

However, the committee annulled the instructions
the Competition Authority's decision that Hreyfill make the necessary changes to
its rules and regulations which provide for a ban on taxi drivers
The appellant also makes use of the services of other taxi firms. It says
in the ruling that such changes are not necessary because of the ban which
consists of the said provisional decision and has the appearance of a final decision in
understanding of administrative law. For that reason
The appeal board quashes that part of the decision.

Background information

An interim decision is a temporary remedy which
The Competition Authority is authorised to impose, pursuant to paragraph 3 of Article 16.
the Competition Act No. 44/2005, while an administrative case is pending before
the relevant authority and before such a matter has been finally determined. In
In the aforementioned interim decision, the Competition Authority considered that the conduct of Hreyfill
was not based on either substantive or objective grounds. The conduct of Hreyfill
would have been intended to prevent a new competitor from entering the market
to the detriment of consumers, as well as maintaining those restrictions, with regard to the majority
taxicab drivers, whom the new law on taxi driving was supposed to eradicate.

The Competition Authority therefore considered it likely that the conduct
An act of boycott constituted an infringement of the prohibition provisions of competition law and that the conditions for
the conditions for making a provisional decision were fulfilled.