Tesco and Lidl are among three retailers under investigation in the Czech Republic for the alleged mis-use of their position in the market.
The country’s Office for Protection of Economic Competition (UOHS) is looking into the practices of Tesco, Lidl and German hypermarket chain Globus.
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UOHS vice-chairman Hynek Brom confirmed the investigations were ongoing but would not reveal the details of the alleged offences.
The announcement came after the UOHS fined another Germany hypermarket operator, Kaufland, CZK13.3m for “misusing its market power”.
Brom said Kaufland had secured agreements from suppliers that it did not have to settle invoices within 30 days, which broke regulations introduced in February last year.
He also claimed that Kaufland was also asking for a weekly discount of 0.5% from the suppliers it did pay in time.
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By GlobalDataKaufland, which is part of the Schwarz Group, which also owns Lidl, will appeal the fine. “We are convinced that we have at all times been proceeding in accordance with the law,” a spokesman told just-food.
