NEWS & INSIGHTS

Up-to-date.

April 2025 – In March, the Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) remained active, launching new investigations across various sectors, including food, technology, and digital content platforms. Staying true to its commitment to maintaining effective competition, the TCA continued to impose fines for abuses of dominant positions, cartel activities, and vertical violations. This newsletter provides an overview of significant developments in the Turkish competition law arena during the month.

Dive into March Case Updates

1. Maçkolik Penalized: Fines and fair play rules imposed

Maçkolik, the popular live football results platform, was fined TL 7.4 million (approx. EUR 185,575)[1]  for imposing restrictive customer agreements on advertising agencies, limiting their access to advertising spaces on Maçkolik’s mobile apps and websites. Furthermore, Maçkolik received a separate fine of TL 5.5 million (approx. EUR 139,181) for abusing its dominant position by unfairly discriminating against businesses in the betting games sector within the online advertising and referral services market. To level the playing field, Maçkolik must now adopt transparent ad policies and rotate betting odds displays.

2. TCA skips fine despite deleted messages

In a departure from its usual practice, the TCA did not penalise Biofarma for deleted WhatsApp messages during an on-site inspection. Citing uncertainty about whether the deletion occurred after the start of the examination, the TCA overruled suspicions and a dissenting opinion that argued for a fine based on log records indicating the deletion happened after the inspection’s commencement.[2]
 

3. Intema settles price fixing probe, overhauls dealer contracts

Ceramic producer Intema has settled a TCA investigation into alleged price-fixing and dealer restrictions. The company agreed to pay a reduced fine of TL 64.8 million (approx. EUR 1.6 million) and committed to reforming its dealer agreements. These reforms include eliminating regional and customer restrictions on dealers, clarifying bonus systems, providing competition law training and guidelines, and adjusting non-compete clauses, addressing concerns over price fixing and market limitations.

4. Curium’s Monrol acquisition cleared with safeguards

The TCA conditionally approved the French radiopharmaceutical company Curium’s takeover of Eczacıbaşı Monrol, a Turkish nuclear medicine producer, following a Phase II review. Key commitments include price controls, independent distribution to prevent information sharing, and guaranteed local supply, ensuring that the Turkish nuclear medicine market remains competitive and well-supplied.

5. TCA fined power transformers suppliers for price fixing

The TCA imposed a substantial total fine of over TL 537 million (approx. EUR 13.4 million) on 10 undertakings as a result of the investigation conducted against 18 undertakings operating power and distribution transformers used in the conversion of the voltage of generated electricity and the cells and concrete kiosks used to ensure security during the distribution of energy.[3]

6. Epson commits to end customer and territorial restrictions

The TCA accepted commitments from Epson, an Italian printer and printing machinery producer, to resolve allegations of customer and territorial restrictions. The investigation centred on claims that Epson limited its resellers’ pricing freedom in Türkiye and imposed customer and territorial restrictions on its distributors.[4]

New Investigations and Oral Hearings Announced

Investigations:

• Apple’s buyback market practices scrutinised:[5] Apple is under investigation for allegedly coordinating resale and buyback prices with Destek Bilişim, Easycep, Getmobil and HB Bilişim, who are also under investigation.
• Digital content platforms face competition probe over exclusivity deals:[6] Netflix, Disney+, Exxen, Gain, Amazon and BluTV are under investigation for exclusivity agreement with content providers and talent; and Netflix is separately probed for alleged abuse of dominance through behaviours such as discriminating among its talent and favouring its own original productions over independent producers on the platform.
• Hub-and-spoke investigation into tech retailers:[7] Teknosa, Vatan, and Mediamarkt, major technology retailers, are under investigation for allegedly exchanging competitively sensitive information through Fakir, a small home appliances retailer. Fakir is also being investigated for alleged resale price maintenance and online sales restrictions.
• Small home appliances retailer Arzum faces investigation:[8] Arzum is under investigation for allegedly controlling reseller pricing and restricting distributor sales to Arzum’s direct clients.
• Opet’s non-compete obligations under scrutiny:[9] The TCA initiated an investigation against Opet, a fuel company, on the grounds that the non-compete obligations in its dealership agreements exceeded five years, allegedly limiting effective competition.
• Supermarkets and milk suppliers under the spotlight: Following two preliminary investigations, the TCA has launched full-fledged investigations. The first investigation targets supermarket chains A101, BİM, CarrefourSA, Migros, and Şok, along with vegetable milk producer Nilky, for alleged anti-competitive agreements. The second investigation focuses on milk suppliers Güney Süt and Ak Gıda, as well as supermarkets BİM and Şok, for alleged price coordination and sensitive information exchange regarding milk and milk products.
  
  

Upcoming Oral Hearings

• Erikli Su – Pınar Su (8 April 2025): The hearing addressed alleged price fixing agreements between packaged water producers Erikli Su and Pınar Su.
• Private Food Control Laboratories (27 May 2025): The hearing will evaluate alleged price fixing in food analysis fees and competitively sensitive information exchange.
• Aydın Ready-mixed Concrete Producers (22 April 2025): The hearing will address the allegations of ready-mixed concrete producers in Aydın regarding price fixing, allocation of regions/customers, and resale price maintenance.