In our country, motor vehicle driving courses sector is among those where infringements of competition are particularly widespread. It has been observed that one of the main reasons for this situation is a general lack of information within the sector concerning basic prohibitions of competition law.

Lately, there has been an increase in the number of reports and complaints received by the Competition Authority concerning infringements of competition within the driving courses sector, and the Competition Board has initiated investigations on driving courses in Samsun, Nevşehir and Fethiye with recent decisions. Due to the high number of the aforementioned reports and complaints as well as to the investigations initiated, the need for this announcement has been observed in order to inform the driving courses operating in the relevant sector and the associations of undertakings established by these driving courses and/or by their managers in the form of various bodies such as leagues, unions, federations, etc.

Article 4 of the Act no 4054 prohibits "Agreements and concerted practices between undertakings, and decisions and practices of associations of undertakings which have as their object or effect or likely effect the prevention, distortion or restriction of competition directly or indirectly in a particular market for goods or services."

Within this framework, in a competitive market, every driving course must take its commercial decisions, including the setting of course fees, in an independent manner. If, through written and/or oral agreements, competing driving courses
      - Set course fees and the discounts to be implemented,
      - Jointly determine the maximum number of trainees to be registered in a single semester, 
      - Allocate markets or customers,
      - Use pools to share their income, and
      - Establish various punishment mechanisms (signing bonds, etc.) to ensure compliance with the agreements concluded,
this is seen as an infringement of competition and is clearly prohibited by the Act no 4054. Implementing such conduct through various bodies such as associations, federations, confederations or professional organizations established by driving courses also fall under the same prohibition. 

In our country, there are various chronic problems in the driving courses sector, such as the existence of more driving courses than required, a lack of supervision, a failure by driving courses to provide the minimum training necessary and excessive price drops by driving courses; however the existence of these problems may not be accepted as valid grounds for the anti-competitive practices of driving courses.

The Act no 4054 states that firms which engage in the aforementioned violations may be sanctioned with administrative fines of up to 10% of their annual turnovers.

In the future, Competition Authority will work even harder and increase the necessary inspections in order to eliminate infringements of competition within the sector and sanction the driving courses parties to the violation.

Within this framework, in order to evade the heavy sanctions envisaged by the Act no 4054, it is important for driving courses and associations formed by driving courses to avoid making agreements with competing driving courses in a manner that would lead to aforementioned infringements of competition and, for those undertakings currently parties to such agreements, to immediately terminate these practices.

Respectfully submitted for the information of the public.