The Turkish Competition Authority has imposed a fine of approximately 282 million Turkish liras (6.65 million USD) on soft drink giant Coca-Cola for obstructing an on-site inspection.
In a written statement, the Competition Authority (RK) said it imposed an administrative fine of 282.4 million Turkish liras, or 0.5% of the company's gross reserves in 2024, after finding that certain data was deleted after the on-site inspection began.
„The power to conduct on-site inspections is one of the leading tools used to determine whether Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (Law No. 4054) has been violated. The productive use of this power is of utmost importance for establishing effective competition“, RK points out.
He recalled that within the framework of the on-site inspection experts may check the accounting books of the undertaking, as well as all types of data and documents that it stores on physical or electronic media and in information systems, take copies and physical samples and request written or oral statements from the employees of the undertakings on certain issues.
Employees are obliged to provide copies of information, documents, books and other instruments upon request. “From the moment the on-site inspection begins, employees must under no circumstances delete data from devices they use containing electronic data, such as mobile phones. Otherwise, this can be easily detected by experts and businesses can face administrative fines of up to 0.5% of their turnover within the scope of preventing and/or obstructing on-site inspections“, explained experts quoted by Daily Sabah.
It is also stated that during the inspection carried out at Coca-Cola Satış ve Dağıtım A.Ş. on October 7, experts from the authorities found that a manager had deleted data after the start of the on-site inspection and as a result, Coca-Cola was fined with a decision taken on November 20, stating that “the on-site inspection was obstructed“.