Three telecoms companies probed

Three major Egyptian telecoms companies — Vodafone, Etisalat and Mobinil — have been referred to the prosecutor general for further investigation concerning the alleged coordination of price hikes, the Competition Authority said in a statement on Sunday.

The authority received complaints in October against the three companies for simultaneously imposing stamp tax on cards used to recharge phone credit in March 2013, costing consumers more than half a billion pounds extra per year.

Head of the authority, Mona al-Garf, clarified that imposing a stamp tax is not an offense itself, but coordination between the companies to raise prices violates the competition law.

The companies previously kept consumer pries low by footing the tax themselves, but later conspired to impose increases at the same time, without notifying the National Telecom Regulatory Authority.

The Competition Authority carried out its own investigation, concluding that the three companies were culpable for "criminalized agreement" and referring the case to the prosecution for criminal investigations.

The companies now have the option of reconciliation with the Competition Authority and paying a fine, or going through judicial procedures.

In a different case, the authority referred two of the companies, Mobinil and Etisalat, to financial and commercial prosecution in February 2013 for failure to cooperate and  provide requested documents.

Representatives from the three companies told state-owned Al-Ahram that they received the approval of National Telecom Regulatory Authority before imposing the new tax and that they have yet to receive any formal notification from the prosecution about the case yet.