The platform Affected by the Oil Companies, which brings together 120 service stations, has filed a lawsuit before the Commercial Court of Madrid to claim damages from Repsol, Moeve – formerly Cepsa – and BP for fixing fuel prices.
According to sources consulted by this newspaper, these demands were presented last week and provide more than 50,000 documents of information. This judicial action thus adds to those already raised by transporters for the fixing of fuel prices. This step comes after a ruling that the Supreme Court handed down at the beginning of November, as reported by this newspaper, and which in the platform’s opinion would give rise to service stations being able to claim compensation for these anti-competitive practices. Specifically, the Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court, meeting in full, issued a ruling on November 6 declaring the nullity of the historical exclusive supply contracts signed by Repsol and Cepsa with their service stations for violating the rules of Competence.
Through this ruling, it is established that the oil companies engaged in a prohibited practice of fixing sales prices to the public to the owners of service stations linked to them through commission contracts.
Specifically, this lawsuit requests the nullity of the contracts and calculates the economic effects that the anti-competitive practice has had for the 120 service stations that have currently joined the platform.
The amount of the claim has been estimated by a team of Experts Specialized in this type of situation, who, following the criteria established by the European Commission Guide, have estimated that the economic effect of said infringement amounts to a joint amount of 600 million euros for the three oil companies.
To date, the volume of Service Stations that have joined the Platform represents a very small percentage, around 5%, of the total Service Stations potentially affected. This is why the Platform for People Affected by Oil Companies continues to accept membership applications in the coming months.
As this newspaper has already indicated, the Supreme Court has modified its doctrine and establishes the reversal of the burden of proof in Competition Law lawsuits, so from now on it must be the flagship company, and not the standard bearers, who must demonstrate that there have been no anti-competitive practices.
The oil companies, for their part, indicate that they have been adapting their contracts over time, which would leave out of any claim the firm purchase contracts referenced to the Platts stock index and the pure commission contracts without assumption of risks for the companies. gas stations.
The legal battle that both parties have been fighting is plagued by contradictory rulings and leads the oil companies to consider that this lawsuit will have no effect. The lawsuit is distributed 80% for the service stations that participate in it and 20% for the King Street fund, which finances this legal action.
Spain has more than 12,000 service stations in operation at the moment. At the moment, only 1% of the market has joined this demand, which represents 5% of potential plaintiffs. The Platform Affected by Oil Companies is interested in expanding the number of service stations that participate in it, but the sector believes that demand will not prosper.
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