Competition Commission to redraft Shoprite case in bid to extract fine

The Competition Commission, which is chasing a R15bn fine against Shoprite, has 30 days to restate its case against the retailer and its subsidiary Computicket if it hopes to convince the tribunal that the retailer should be fined.

The commission, which acts like a prosecutor on competition matters, contends that Computicket breached the Competition Act by entering into exclusive agreements to be the sole seller of tickets for music festivals and concerts from 2013 to 2018 and thus stopped other ticketing firms from being able to trade.

The case filed in December 2018 accuses Computicket of abusing its dominant position but it has yet to be heard as it has been delayed by a legal battle over whether the commission can charge Shoprite for its Computicket division’s alleged infractions.

At stake is the size of the fine the commission can ask for. If a company is found guilty of breaching the Competition Act, the tribunal, which acts like a court on competition matters, can exact a maximum penalty of 10% of turnover.

Shoprite’s revenue in 2020 equalled R156bn, meaning a fine could equal more than R15bn.

However, Computicket is a much smaller entity and would be fined far less.

The 2019 amendment to the Competition Act would make it easier for the commission to go after Shoprite or any company for their subsidiary’s behaviour, but Shoprite lawyers argued that the commission was trying to use the new law to prosecute the retailer for alleged infractions in the years before the law was passed.

Computicket has already been found guilty of enforcing exclusive ticket-selling agreements from 2005 to 2010 and fined R20m in a legal case that is completed.

This current case for the period from 2013 differs in that the commission must prove Computicket excluded other ticket sellers from operating, even as new companies such as Webtickets grew in size.