Bundeskartellamt’s Deutsche Bahn Decision
The Bundeskartellamt decided on June 26, 2023 that (Decision) several practices and contractual clauses used by the German national railway company Deutsche Bahn (DB) in relation to rival mobility platforms constitute an abuse of market power in the mobility services market.
DB is a state-owned enterprise with vertical integration and has a leading market position in the maintenance and operation of railway infrastructure, the provision of transport services and the distribution of train tickets.
In this regard, Bundeskartellamt found that the advertising restrictions, vertical price specifications, wide-ranging prohibitions on discounts, non-payment of fees to rival mobility platforms in return for their intermediation services and non-sharing of instant data on train services with competitors are anti-competitive.
Bundeskartellamt prohibited the foregoing conduct and decided following measures to be imposed on DB in the future:
- Removal of advertising bans in distribution agreements between DB and third-party mobility platforms,
- Elimination of discount prohibitions stipulated in the existing contracts between the DB and third-party mobility platforms,
- Payment of commission fees for services provided by third-party providers for booking and payment processes,
- Providing access to information such as delay, cancellation and other relevant train data by way of negotiating with rival mobility platforms and regularly notifying to Bundeskartellamt.
The Decision is noteworthy in terms of the obligations imposed on dominant undertakings in transport platforms, particularly in terms of data transparency.
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