Johannesburg - The Competition Commission early yesterday morning raided the offices of PG Glass, Glasfit, Shatterprufe and Digicall as part of its investigation of alleged collusion.
From the outside, everything seemed normal at PG Glass’s plush offices in Bedfordview, east of Johannesburg, and inside the premises a group of employees huddled in the reception area, happily chatting away, and giving little indication of the ongoing raid on the premises.
Unhurriedly, a group of Competition Commission investigators were walking around the building in groups. One of them, alighted from the lift, carrying boxes from one end of the building to the other. With “investigator” prominently embroidered on the back of their navy blue jackets, the investigators occasionally had hushed conversations with some of the PG Glass employees in the passage.
The employees nervously declined to speak to the media and repeated attempts to get comment from PG Glass, Shatterprufe, Glasfit and Digicall were unsuccessful.
PG Glass and Glasfit are automotive glass fitment and repair service providers; Shatterprufe supplies PG Glass and Glasfit with automotive glass, while Digicall processes and administers automotive glass related insurance claims on behalf of PG Glass and Glasfit.
The commission later released a statement saying the dawn raid operation on the premises was part of its ongoing investigation into allegations of price fixing and division of markets by PG Glass and Glasfit in the provision of automotive glass fitment and repair services.
It said it had reasonable grounds to believe information relevant to this investigation was on the premises of the four firms.
Spokesman Itumeleng Lesofe said the investigation followed two “third party” complaints to the commission. “The complaints were similar and raised the possibility of collusion in the automotive (glass) sector,” he said.
The commission’s investigation is not the first in the glass sector in recent years.
In 2013, the body investigated allegations of anti-competitive behaviour against six companies active in the manufacturing and distribution of glass products for the building and construction industry – Glass SA‚ National Glass‚ Northern Hardware and Glass‚ Furman Glass‚ McCoy’s Glass and AF-FSL Glass.
The six firms faced allegations of price fixing‚ market allocation and the fixing of trading conditions for float‚ laminated and toughened glass in the Gauteng‚ Free State and Western Cape regions. This was done through various arrangements and agreements among the respondents.
The commission referred its findings to the Competition Tribunal and asked the tribunal to impose an administrative penalty of 10 percent of yearly turnover on each of the firms.
Lesofe said the commission had conducted the raid on the premises with due regard to the rights of the companies and all the affected persons.
He said the commission had obtained a warrant authorising it to search the offices of the companies at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
“During the search the commission will seize documents and electronic data, which will be analysed together with other information gathered to determine whether a contravention of the Competition Act has taken place,” Lesofe said.
BUSINESS REPORT