Competition ensures that the undertakings offer goods and services to the consumers on the most advantageous terms by encouraging efficiency and reducing prices.

Labour markets are dynamic markets where wages and other working conditions are determined based on market equilibrium, i.e. the balance between supply and demand.

Across modern competition regimes, on-site inspections occupy a central place among the investigative tools of competition authorities and the Turkish Competition Authority (the “TCA”) is no exception, having been entrusted with broad powers to carry out such inspections to detect covert infringements of Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (“Law No. 4054”). Although the scope of these powers has attracted constitutional debate in the legal literature, the TCA’s consistent decisional practice has, in practice, led to the crystallisation of generally accepted standards.

Beyond the magnitude of the fine imposed, the decision is particularly significant for two reasons. First, the TCB decided to refuse the commitment procedure by exercising its discretion, despite the absence of a formal classification of the conduct as “hardcore”.