Port Nelson pays $325,000 costs to Commission - penalties and costs total $850,000
Published28 Jan 1997
Port Nelson Limited (PNL) has paid costs of $325,000 to the Commerce Commission after the Commission's High Court action against the company.
Commission Chairman Dr Alan Bollard said these costs are additional to the $500,000 penalty and $25,000 costs imposed by the Court of Appeal.
"This ends the Commission's action against PNL," Dr Bollard said, "and sends a strong warning to all businesses - if they breach the Commerce Act, then they can face big penalties and big costs."
In 1995 the Commission proved in the High Court that PNL had breached the Act by using its dominant position to prevent Tasman Bay Marine Pilots Limited competing with it, and had twice entered into contracts with anti-competitive purposes.
PNL appealed, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and ordered PNL to pay $25,000 costs on the appeal.
The $325,000 costs now paid by PNL relate to the High Court trial.
"It is significant that the Court of Appeal said that $500,000 was not an excessive or inappropriate penalty, and it could not be considered severe in light of PNL's actions and the $5 million maximum," Dr Bollard said.
"To that warning companies must add the possibility of having to pay big costs to the Commission, their own legal expenses, plus facing bad publicity.
"The cost to PNL should be a strong disincentive to any company breaching the Act.
"Importantly, the arguments behind the Courts' decisions give the Commission a powerful tool to use if a dominant company tries to prevent a new competitor entering the market or if it tries to eliminate an existing competitor.
"The decisions endorse the way the Commission deals with companies who may be using a dominant position for an anti-competitive purpose. They also give companies a clear understanding of how they should behave to ensure they stay within the law."
Media contact: Communications Officer Vincent Cholewa
