Uzbekistan's Competition Committee has included visa centers VFS Global Services UBKN and Vizametric in the list of entities holding a dominant position in the market for certain services. TLScontact has been recognized as having dominant bargaining power.
As part of ensuring compliance with antimonopoly legislation, an analysis of the visa services market for travel to foreign countries was conducted. According to the analysis, VFS Global Services UBKN LLC was found to hold a dominant position in providing visa services for travel to Austria, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, New Zealand, Israel, and Malta.
Vizametric LLC was found to hold a dominant position in providing visa services for travel to the United States. The decision is based on Article 13 of the Law on Competition, which defines a dominant position as one that allows decisive influence on the state of competition, hindering market access for other economic entities or otherwise restricting their economic freedom.
TLS Contact LLC was recognized as having dominant bargaining power in providing visa services for travel to Germany and France. According to Article 14 of the Law on Competition, the ability to unilaterally influence contract terms, territory of goods realization, and prices is recognized as dominant bargaining power.
Actions by an entity holding a dominant position or dominant bargaining power that lead to restriction of competition or infringement of consumer rights and legitimate interests are considered abuse of dominant position or bargaining power.
Earlier, blogger Nikita Makarenko filed a complaint with the Competition Committee about problems when submitting documents to France through the TLScontact visa center — in particular, the inability to book an appointment and the ban on using phones in the center. Subsequently, TLScontact announced the introduction of a new appointment system for short-term visas to France starting July 1.
Source: kun.uz