Decision Vj-159/2005 of the Competition Council of the Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH): TESCO-Global Áruházak ZRt.

The Competition Council of the Hungarian Competition Authority (Gazdasági Versenyhivatal - GVH) established in its decision, issued on 7 March 2006, that TESCO-Global infringed the provisions on the prohibition of unfair manipulation of consumer choice of the Hungarian Competition Act.

TESCO-Global announced price discounts on certain products in its advertisements, however, in some of its outlets it did not keep any of these products or a stock of them large enough for the entire period of the promotion. Also, the reference to the extent of the price reduction was misleading for consumers as it related not to the period directly before the promotion but to a much earlier one. Moreover, TESCO-Global could not prove its statement "Only available in Tesco" to be correct, hence this also infringed the competition rules.

The Competition Council imposed a fine of HUF 36 million on TESCO-Global.

Budapest, 8 March, 2006

Hungarian Competition Authority
Communication Group

Further information:
Erika Baráth
Hungarian Competition Authority
1054 Budapest, V., Alkotmány u.5.
1245 Budapest, 5. Pf. 1036
tel: (+36-1) 472-8902
email: Barath.Erika@gvh.hu
http://www.gvh.hu