“Antimonopoly protection” — Anna Volynets for Legal Information Agency
Consumers and market participants who suffered from over-pricing or other abuses by unscrupulous companies had a chance to make amends. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) promised to provide them with comprehensive support.
Most violators of competition law are brought to administrative responsibility. Proportional turnover fines can reach millions of rubles. In addition, income derived from monopolistic activities or unfair competition may be collected from the federal budget. But the victims from such acts no one protects: "If the abuse of dominance, unfair competition, cartel or other violations of antitrust law have caused anyone losses, the injured person has the right to apply to the court for their recovery," - recognize in the FAS.
Anna Volynets, senior associate of "Prime Advice", commented:
The decision of the antimonopoly authority does not exempt the plaintiff from proving the fact of the violation, but in practice greatly facilitates this process.
Relatively high litigation costs and unpredictable outcomes as a rule stop such potential claimants. The association of the victims in the "group" increases the effectiveness of the fight, although the norms of Arbitration procedural code of the Russian Federation about class actions are not suitable for recovery of individual damages in favor of each member of such "group". They can unite as co-plaintiffs.
The current legislation does not provide for the possibility of filing a claim for damages in favor of an unlimited number of victims yet.