The Czech Office for the Protection of Competition has penalised telecommunications company O2 Czech Republic and vehicle tracking firm SHERLOG Technology for operating a long-standing cartel. In a first-instance decision, the antitrust regulator imposed a fine of CZK 262,320,000 (€10.89 million) on O2 and CZK 18,357,000 (€762,000) on SHERLOG for anti-competitive practices in the market for vehicle monitoring systems and electronic logbooks. SHERLOG has also been hit with a six-month ban from participating in public procurement tenders.
According to the watchdog’s findings, the two companies violated Czech competition laws and European Union antitrust rules between December 2012 and June 2022. The regulator established that O2 and SHERLOG colluded to divide customers and coordinate commercial offers, including bids submitted to public procurement entities.
The investigation, initiated in 2022 following local inspections, focused on contractual terms surrounding the joint product “O2 Car Control”. While joint business cooperation is legal, investigators determined that agreements signed in December 2012 went well beyond normal commercial arrangements. The deal restricted SHERLOG from offering its competing product, “SHERLOG Trace,” without prior communication and approval from O2. This established an illegal framework where the firms determined which clients received specific offers and effectively eliminated mutual competition.
Internal email exchanges obtained during administrative proceedings proved that the arrangement was actively enforced over nearly a decade. The companies routinely coordinated business opportunities and agreed on who would target specific public and private accounts, including contracts for Prague Airport, Nové Město na Moravě, and the Services Facility of the Ministry of the Interior.
The extended decade-long duration of the infringement significantly increased the monetary penalties. While SHERLOG received a public tender ban alongside its fine, the authority opted against barring O2 from public contracts. Regulators noted that excluding O2 could severely harm competition in the broader telecommunications sector due to its dominant market position. Instead, O2’s financial penalty was increased by more than CZK 75 million (€3.1 million). Both companies retain the right to appeal the decision to the President of the Office.
