The Norwegian Competition Authority has issued a Statement of Objections to four local driving schools, accusing them of running an illegal price-fixing cartel. The antitrust regulator has notified the companies of proposed fines totaling NOK 2.16 million (approximately €193,000).
The announcement follows unannounced dawn raids conducted in November 2024 at ABC Trafikkskole AS, Aktiv Kjøreskole AS, City Trafikkskole AS, and Halaas Trafikkskole AS.
A Four-Year Collusion
According to the regulator’s preliminary assessment, the four driving schools regularly met and colluded on the pricing of their driving instruction services over a span of more than four years, running from March 2020 until the inspections in November 2024.
Antitrust officials emphasized that price-fixing is a severe breach of the law that directly restricts the market and exploits local consumers.
“Competition is essential to ensure that customers receive driving instruction services of good quality at the lowest possible price. When the driving schools in a market coordinate their prices, competition is restricted and customers may end up paying more than necessary.” — Director General Mads Magnussen
Small Businesses, Big Responsibilities
The driving school market in Norway is heavily fragmented, consisting primarily of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) serving local or regional communities. However, regulators warned that a company’s small size does not grant it immunity from antitrust scrutiny.
“In this case, our preliminary assessment is that the driving schools coordinated prices for driving school services, instead of competing with each other. The Competition Act applies to all markets and to all undertakings, regardless of size. It is important that also small and medium-sized undertakings comply with applicable competition law.” — Jan Kristoffer Høiland, Deputy Director
Next Steps
The Competition Authority stressed that the findings outlined in the Statement of Objections are strictly preliminary and do not represent a final verdict in the case.
The four Kristiansund-based driving schools have been granted a window to review the case files and exercise their right of defense. They have until September 25 to formally submit their comments and counter-arguments before the regulator makes a definitive decision.
