News

Fine of DKK 30 million to Falck

The City Court of Copenhagen has imposed a fine of DKK 30 million to the ambulance service company Falck Danmark A/S for abuse of dominant position. Falck abused its dominant position by excluding its competitor BIOS from ambulance services in the Region of Southern Denmark.

The Danish Competition Counsel decided in January 2019 that Falck (Denmark's largest provider of ambulance services) had abused its dominant position on the Danish market for ambulance services in the period from August 2014 to October 2015.

The Danish Competition Counsel found that Falck had abused its dominant position by deciding and subsequently implementing a strategy which aimed at excluding Falck’s competitor BIOS from the market. The object of the strategy was to create uncertainty and concern about BIOS as a supplier of ambulance services and as an employer and to make it difficult for BIOS to recruit paramedics in the Region of Southern Denmark.

After the ruling, the Danish Competition Counsel referred the case to the State Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime, who initiated criminal proceedings. This has now resulted in Falck confessing to the infringement and the City Court of Copenhagen, imposing a fine of DKK 30 million on Falck.

For further information contact head of communications at The Danish Competition and Consumer Authority, Hanne Arentoft, on telephone +45 41 71 50 98.