A fine of HUF 126 million has been imposed on the company
Budapest, 31 May 2024 - The Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) has closed its competition proceeding against lampak.hu, a popular lighting webshop among Hungarian consumers. The Czech company deceived consumers with its misleading pricing practices and urging messages on its website. The GVH's Competition Council imposed a fine of HUF 126 million - with six months' payment in instalments - for breaching the prohibition of unfair commercial practices.
During the investigation, the national competition authority found that Donoci s.r.o., the operator of the lampak.hu website, had engaged in unfair commercial practices. Since August 2020, the Czech based company has unfairly distorted customer decisions in several ways, namely:
- did not verify that it applied the original price before offering promotions on its website, and in many cases it consistently applied prices reserved for promotions, so that they did not represent real savings or discounts.
- when promoting certain products, it gave false information about the demand for the products, as it did not present domestic demand data relevant to consumers.
- both in terms of content and appearance, displayed urging messages on its website, such as the limited duration of a discount.
In addition, the company offered two products at a higher price with a gift than without. The package offer therefore included a "gift" value, which in practice lost this quality.
Throughout the procedure, the company cooperated with the national competition authority, admitted the infringement, waived its right to appeal and committed to a complex compliance package. Taking into account the company's cooperative attitude and corrective actions, the GVH Competition Council significantly reduced the amount of the fine imposed to HUF 126 million. The company must pay the fine in equal instalments over a period of six months.
In this case, the GVH warns businesses that it pays to cooperate with the national competition authority. There are a number of possibilities for businesses to cooperate, which can significantly reduce the fines. In some cases (if they provide appropriate commitments) they can even avoid the establishment of an infringement.
The terms and conditions of cooperation with the GVH, as well as details of the discounts available through cooperation, can be found on the GHV website.
The case’s reference number is: VJ/25/2022.
GVH Public Service Communications Section
Further information:
Bálint Horváth, Head of Communication +36 20 238 6939
Katalin Gondolovics, Spokesperson +36 30 603 1170