Power cable supplier Alcon Marepha has been fined R1.3m as part of a settlement agreement with the Competition Commission for its role in price fixing and collusion in Eskom tenders.
The order was made by the Competition Tribunal on Wednesday. Alcon has also agreed to cooperate with the commission for ongoing investigations.
"Alcon admits to collusive tendering through the submission of cover prices for tenders issued by Eskom.
"Alcon, in agreement with competitors, allocated specific product lines and agreed on the prices to be charged per product line during the period 1994 – 2008. Prices were maintained through the provision of cover prices," the Tribunal said in a statement.
Alcon also admitted to price fixing of power cables through the Association of Electric Cable Manufacturers South Africa. Under the association's authority, Alcon discussed and agreed to quotation indices with competitors, the statement added.
"These indices were used to escalate prices when bidding for short- and long-term tenders to supply electric cabling products between 2001 – 2012.