UK: Competition

United Kingdom

The Competition Act 1998 coming into force on
1 March 2000 will give major new powers to the Director General of Water Services to initiate action against companies that abuse a dominant position or make anti-competitive agreements. It gives OFWAT strong powers of investigation and the ability to levy fines of up to 10% of a company’s UK turnover. Published jointly with the Director General of Fair Trading, the Director General of Water Services has published a consultation version, “The Competition Act guideline, The Application of the Competition Act in the water and sewage sectors”. The guideline is part of a series published concurrently by the Director General of Fair Trading and the sector regulators. The final guideline should be published shortly.
(OFWAT, July 1999)