Indonesia’s Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) announced yesterday it was launching an appeal against a court ruling clearing Carrefour of monopolistic business practices.
In November the KPPU ordered French retail giant Carrefour to sell its shares in Indonesian chain PT Alfa Retailindo and pay an Rp25bn (US$2.7 million) fine, claiming the company had breached competition rules by controlling more than half the retail market.
That ruling was overturned 17 February in South Jakarta’s district court, citing a lack of evidence Carrefour had more than a 50 per cent share of the retail market or had conducted monopolistic business practices.
“We’ve filed an appeal to the Supreme Court through the district court on Monday against its ruling,” KPPU official Mohammad Reza told AFP.
“We insist that Carrefour controls about 58 per cent of the modern retail market. That enables them to conduct monopolistic practices by pressing their suppliers.”
The District Court ruling last month accepted Carrefour’s evidence – a survey by AC Nielsen Media Research – that the company only controlled 17 per cent of the retail market after the acquisition of Alfa.
The court’s chief justice said the competition watchdog’s market share calculations were incorrect because they did not take into account the market share of smaller supermarkets and convenience stores.
“We are sure that the Supreme Court will rule in favour of the stronger evidence,” Irawan Kadarman, director of corporate affairs for Carrefour Indonesia, told the Jakarta Globe.
“The South Jakarta District Court’s decision should be a factor in the Supreme Court’s deliberations.”
Carrefour bought a 75 per cent stake in Alfa Retailindo in 2008 for Rp675bn (US$73m) from Indonesian retailer PT Sigmantara Alfindo and Singapore’s Prime Horizon, adding 30 outlets to its previous 47 in Indonesia.
