Portuguese supermarket chain Pingo Doce has been fined €500,000 by the Economic, Food and Health Safety Agency (ASAE) for selling products under cost.
The fine relates to a promotional campaign conducted on 1 May 2014, when Pingo Doce provided a 50 per cent discount on the bill for anyone spending over €100.
The news has been confirmed by Portugal’s Ministry of Economy during a Parliamentary hearing.
The decision of ASAE is based on the Individual Restrictive Trade Practices laws of 2013, which regulates contracts between distributors and suppliers of agricultural and industrial products. According to the laws, “it is forbidden to offer for sale or to sell an asset to a company or to a consumer for a price below its actual purchase price, plus taxes applicable to that sale and, where applicable, the charges relating to transport."
Violation of this law is punishable with fines of between €5,000 and €2.5 million.
The retailer, majority owned by local conglomerate Jerónimo Martins, has challenged the fine in court. A company source told daily Diario Economico that the decision by ASAE “represents a surprise, because we were convinced that we observed and complied with the law. Moreover, we acted with the express agreement of our suppliers, with whom we signed agreements to that effect."
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic
