The Italian antitrust authority sanctioned ferry company Caronte&Tourist with a fine valued EUR 3.7 million for abuse of dominant position on the maritime links in the Strait of Messina.
Last year,Italy’s Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato launched an investigation in order to ascertain whether the Messina-based company took an irregular advantage from a dominant position in the maritime transport of passengers with accompanying wheeled vehicles and commercial vehicles with driver.
Analysis carried out by the Authority revealed, in particular, that Caronte&Tourist applied prices which are significantly higher than those charged by other operators, moreover not parameterized with respect to the costs that would be expected in the performance of the service. Moreover, these prices appeared to be particularly discriminatory towards passengers with car travelling alone.