The recent news that the sale practices of Dell, a well-known brand in the field of information technology and computers, may have been in violation of competition rules has raised eyebrows. The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) has obliged the company to change its practices, imposing a six million złoty fine for misleading the president of the Office.
The investigation by UOKiK focused on suspicions of Dell engaging in anti-competitive agreements with wholesale distributors and authorized sellers when selling IT infrastructure products to businesses and institutions, including through public procurement. This included the sale of various IT products such as computers, laptops, peripherals (mice), as well as IT products and services for creating IT systems, such as servers, storage devices, disk arrays, technical support services, cloud services, and data protection.
One of the main concerns raised by UOKiK was the sales system based on transaction registration by authorized sellers. According to UOKiK, Dell could prevent other business partners from presenting competitive price offers to the same client, even upon the client’s explicit request. This practice could potentially lead to market division by assigning specific sellers to transactions, depriving businesses and institutions of the opportunity to purchase Dell products under more favorable pricing or technological conditions.
In response to these concerns, UOKiK obliged Dell to eliminate practices that allocated transactions to specific sellers. This change aims to allow businesses and institutions purchasing Dell products to compare multiple offers and choose the most advantageous one. The president of UOKiK, Tomasz Chróstny, emphasized the importance of sales being conducted in compliance with competition rules, ensuring fair market practices.
Furthermore, Dell was penalized for providing false information during the investigative process. Despite multiple requests for information regarding businesses that requested offers from Dell for the same client, Dell provided misleading information. As a result, UOKiK imposed a six million złoty fine on the company.
Following UOKiK’s decision, multiple authorized sellers can now compete for a contract with a client without requiring Dell’s approval or disclosing the client’s name. Changes will also affect discounts provided by Dell, with several sellers eligible for discounts based on transparent criteria such as transaction order or estimated value. Additional discounts will be available for pre-sales efforts, assessed based on criteria like client engagement or test solution preparation.
Dell has six months from the decision’s finalization to implement the new sales rules, considering the necessary modifications to global IT systems. The company must inform the president of UOKiK about the implementation in detail.
It is important to note that the decisions issued by UOKiK are subject to appeal. The company has been requested to provide their stance on the matter, and further developments may arise as the situation unfolds.