Fines totalling €115m have been imposed on five leading lens manufacturers in Germany, seven of their employees and Germany's Central Association of Optometrists (ZVA) for their alleged involvement in cartel agreements to fix lens prices.
The German divisions of Rodenstock, Carl Zeiss Vision (CZV), Essilor, Rupp+Hubrach and Hoya were fined by the Bundeskartellamt (BKA), Germany's national competition regulator on June 10 which claimed the companies maintained two different types of anticompetitive agreements.
According to the BKA, the five manufacturers met on a regular basis since the year 2000 to coordinate their competitive behaviour. Through the HERRZ group, whose name corresponds to the first letters of the participating companies, the BKA alleged that the companies agreed on price surcharges as well as conditions, bonuses and discounts granted to opticians. In addition they are purported to have regularly informed each other of specific measures such as upcoming price increases.
Register now to continue reading
Thank you for visiting Optician Online. Register now to access up to 10 news and opinion articles a month.
Register
Already have an account? Sign in here