Small businesses need to be aware of new pro-competition rules, which could see price-fixing bosses fined or even sent to jail, according to business advisers LexisNexis UK.
As part of the anti-cartel provisions in last year’s Enterprise Act, since 20 June it has been a crime to agree with competitors to fix prices, share markets, restrict production and rig bids.
Business owners and directors who are found to be making anti-competitive arrangements face an unlimited fine and up to five years in prison.
Businesses of all sizes are bound by the new regulations, so small firms found to have dishonestly rigged bids for contract work, for instance, will be treated exactly the same as multi-national companies guilty of price fixing.
LexisNexis claimed that consumers should be protected from being “ripped off” by companies that agree to not undercut each other’s prices.
