Agreements about business
Illegal cartel: 223 million punishment for Delivery Hero
The food supplier Delivery Hero, headquartered in Berlin, has long been the focus of the EU competition officers. Now Brussels is imposing a millions.
Because the food delivery service Delivery Hero has formed an illegal cartel with the Glovo company, the company, based in Berlin, has to pay a good 223 million euros. Specifically, it is about contradictory agreements, such as about prices and strategies, said the EU Commission in Brussels. Glovo, headquartered in Spain, also earns his money in the delivery service industry and has to pay almost 106 million euros.
In addition to arrangements on sensitive information such as prices, Delivery Hero and Glovo have said that they have noticed any employees from each other and divided markets locally. According to the EU Commission, the agreements have taken place by email and WhatsApp.
EU commission vice wants to enforce fair labor market
According to the EU Commission Vice Teresa Ribera, it is the first time that the Commission impose fines against companies for such employee agreements. This contributes to a fair job market on which employers would not deny to limit opportunities.
The Commission did not comment on the concrete effects on consumers or competitors in Germany. An official from the authority emphasized, however, that it was a fact that Delivery Hero had been active in the German market in the meantime, while Glovo was not.
Agreements have been back for a long time
The procedure has been running for a long time. As early as November 2023, the Commission carried out unannounced inspections at Delivery Hero in Berlin and at Glovo in Barcelona. Delivery Hero emphasizes that the company had fully cooperated with the Commission during the entire investigation.
From July 2018, Delivery Hero held a minority stake in Glovo and took over the sole control of the company in July 2022. According to the EU Commission, the agreements took place before the takeover, the two companies do not contest their participation in the cartel.
Delivery Hero expected even higher punishment
Last year Delivery Hero announced that a punishment of more than 400 million euros could be imposed due to the cartel. Until then, the Berliners had only traveled 186 million euros for the conflict.
With a total of 329 million euros, the punishment is around 20 percent below the expected level, Delivery Hero said. Among other things, this was based on the fact that the Commission had recognized that the contested behavior was of less intensity over a few periods.
Delivery Hero and Glovo are among the largest food delivery services in Europe. Other products can also be ordered there.
dpa
Source: Stern
