The president of the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade), Alexandre Cordeiro, asked this Wednesday for the opening of an inquiry to investigate the increase in fuel prices, between the end of December and the beginning of January. In the agency’s assessment, the rise in prices was sudden and could configure the formation of a cartel.
Among the reasons, there is a suspicion that the stations have readjusted the value in view of the expectation that the federal government would return to the collection of federal taxes on fuel. The problem is that the tax exemption was maintained but the price of fuel rose anyway.
The investigation request points out that there was a sudden increase in prices at different stations in the Federal District, Espírito Santo, Pernambuco and Minas Gerais.
Members of Cade told CNN that they do not rule out the formation of a cartel, in which gas station entrepreneurs would carry out anti-competitive practices together, since the increases took place in an apparently coordinated manner.
Cade’s president states in the document that a cartel is “promoting, obtaining or influencing the adoption of uniform or concerted commercial conduct between competitors”
The decision on opening an inquiry rests with CADE’s General Superintendent, to whom the request was sent.
Source: CNN Brasil
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