Decision on daily penalties for Midbæjarhótels ehf.'s failure to provide documents and information

On 2 March 2007, the Competition Authority carried out a search at the offices of the Travel Industry Association in connection with the association's alleged breaches of Article 10, read with Article 12, of the Competition Act on various sub-markets of the travel industry market. Following the processing of the information obtained during the raid, the Competition Authority collected further evidence from numerous parties in the tourism market, including in relation to alleged collusion in the hotel market in contravention of section 10 of the Competition Act. Miðbæjarhótel ehf. was one of the parties from which the Competition Authority requested information. Despite the Competition Authority's repeated requests for specific information from the hotel, the Authority has not yet received a response to its request. By doing so, Miðbæjarhótel ehf. has failed to comply with its unequivocal legal obligation to provide documents and information under Article 19 of the Competition Act. For these reasons, and pursuant to section 38 of the Competition Act, the Competition Authority has decided to impose daily fines on Miðbæjarhótel ehf. The company is required to pay 150,000 kr. per day until the Competition Authority's request for data and information has been satisfactorily complied with.