Authority heard 19 allegations of cartels last year

The Competition Authority received 19 new complaints of alleged criminal cartel behavior in 2014, its final year before it was merged with the National Consumer Agency.

The authority’s final annual report as a standalone entity also reveals that the DPP gave it a direction that year “not to prosecute” allegations of bid-rigging in the electrical contracting sector.

The Competition Authority began an investigation into a suspected cartel in the sector seven years ago.