The Namibian Competition Commission (NaCC) recently announced it had initiated an investigation against law firm Dr. Weder, Kauta & Hoveka Inc and Bank Windhoek in terms of Section 33 of the Namibian Competition Act No. 2 of 2003.
The investigation, which commenced in 2022, followed allegations of exclusive dealings pertaining to property conveyance services.
In its recent announcement the NaCC said it had engaged all the concerned parties and afforded them the opportunity to respond to the allegations.
“Upon receipt of responses to the allegations, the commission will conduct an assessment and stemming therefrom, determine the relevant course of action,” the NaCC stated.
The investigation stems from a complaint that Dr. Weder, Kauta & Hoveka Inc and Bank Windhoek entered an exclusive service level agreement that appoints the former as the exclusive and sole conveyancing attorneys for properties financed through Bank Windhoek.
“It is alleged that this agreement required Bank Windhoek property financing applicants to only use Dr. Weder, Kauta & Hoveka Inc’s conveyancing services to the exclusion of other conveyancing service providers in the relevant market,” the NaCC stated.
The commission added that the agreement and its maintained exclusivity is said to limit competition and forecloses other independent service providers in the relevant market, which is provisionally defined as the provision of conveyancing services for Bank Windhoek financed property transactions.
“The alleged conduct of law firm Dr. Weder, Kauta & Hoveka Inc amounts to a possible contravention of Section 23 (1) read with Section 23 (2) (b), and Sections 23 (3) (e) and 23 (3) (g), while that of Bank Windhoek amounts to a possible contravention of Section 23 (1) read with Section 23 (2) (b), and Sections 23 (3) (e) and 23 (3) (g) as well as section 26 (1) read with section 26 (2) (a), 26 (2) (b) and 26 (2) (d) of the Competition Act”, the NaCC added.
Meanwhile, the commission has also collected more than N$1 million in settlement agreements emanating from alleged anti-competitive behaviour by five pharmaceutical companies and one windscreen retailer. The affected parties engaged the commission after investigations concluded that the entities were engaged in exclusive dealings. These agreements were imposed between November 2022 and January 2023.
In a statement issued last week, the NaCC appreciated that the parties made use of the opportunity provided to them in terms Section 40 of the Competition Act and sought an amicable resolution to investigations against them. The commission further encouraged parties interested in exploring this opportunity to approach NaCC for possible resolution in order to avoid costly litigations.
The settlement amounts imposed on the five pharmacies are a result of the commission’s investigation which found that the Pharmaceutical Society of Namibia (PSN) and close to 180 pharmacies contravened the Namibian Competition Act through price fixing.