Decision of the Competition Council of the Hungarian Competition Authority (Gazdasági Versenyhivatal - GVH) Vj-29/2006: Auchan

The Competition Council of the Hungarian Competition Authority (Gazdasági Versenyhivatal - GVH) established in its decision, issued on 20 July 2006, that Auchan infringed the provisions on the prohibition of unfair manipulation of consumer choice of the Hungarian Competition Act.

In the competition supervision proceeding the Competition Council of the GVH concluded that the advertisements of Auchan were unlawful for the following reasons:

  • 1.

    Advertisements stating that certain of its products is "the cheapest" on the market could not be proven by Auchan.

  • 2.

    It also infringed competition law that, contrary to the statement in Auchan`s advertisement, a product was not available in some of its supermarkets.

  • 3.

    Furhermore, Auchan mislead consumers when it made the impression that the purchase of a package "3 products + 1 present" is cheaper then buying 4 products separately.

  • 4.

    It was considered to be misleading that a product`s actual price was higher than that stated in the advertisement.

The Competition Council of the GVH imposed a fine of HUF 50 million (approx. EUR 175.000) on Auchan for its unlawful behaviour.

Budapest, 20 July, 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) 472-8985
email: Barath.Erika@gvh.hu
http://www.gvh.hu