A second-instance court has rejected PKP Cargo's appeal against a Zl14.22 million (€3.2 million) abuse of dominance fine.
The fine was originally imposed by the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) in December 2015, as it found that the company had abused its dominant position in the domestic rail freight market by unlawfully changing the rules for the sale of freight services, allowing PKP Cargo to refuse to sign special contracts with competitors.
In October 2018 the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection backed the UOKiK's decision after PKP Cargo had filed an appeal. The company filed another appeal before the second-instance Warsaw Court of Appeal, which was also dismissed.
Despite the second-instance court's decision being final, PKP Cargo is examining the possibility of lodging a cassation appeal against the second-instance judgment together with a request to suspend the payment of the fine.
According to PKP Cargo, the court of appeal ruling raises doubts that the court did not consider the company's argument that the UOKiK could not issue a new decision imposing a fine without relaunching the proceedings.
Further, the UOKiK kept almost the same amount of the fine, despite a court order to re-examine all of the circumstances affecting its calculation.
