The Competition Development and Consumer Rights Protection Committee of Uzbekistan has imposed financial penalties on numerous compressed natural gas filling stations in the Republic of Karakalpakstan. This intervention follows a thorough investigation into coordinated price hikes orchestrated by local energy suppliers.

The regulatory inquiry was launched after an alert citizen submitted a formal complaint to the committee. Authorities subsequently examined the pricing mechanisms of 22 operating filling stations located in the city of Nukus. The inspection revealed that these stations had simultaneously inflated the price of a single cubic meter of compressed gas by an average of up to 1,050 soms compared to previously established rates.

The special commission of the committee's territorial department initiated formal proceedings against the stations for violating the mandates of Article 19 of the Law on Competition. Specifically, the operators were accused of engaging in anti-competitive, synchronized, and coordinated actions aimed at manipulating the regional fuel market.

Following a comprehensive review of the cases, official decisions were adopted to levy financial fines against the offenders. Furthermore, mandatory compliance prescriptions were issued, obligating the management to rectify the identified violations and prevent similar occurrences in the future.

Notably, nine of the implicated filling stations contested the Special Commission's ruling by filing lawsuits in court. However, the judicial authorities ultimately upheld the legality and validity of the committee's decisions, reinforcing the state's oversight.

Source: uznews.uz