Competition Law 135 FZ. FAS took advantage of the opportunity provided by the Russian competition law

Any country strives for economic development. Stable economic development is facilitated by market relations. In short, a market is a set of relationships between sellers and buyers. The essence of the market is expressed in competition. Competition is the relationship that develops among producers on issues of prices and volumes. Federal Law of July 26, 2006 No. 135 Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” with current changes for the current year is legislative basis protection of competition in the Russian Federation. This includes the protection of domestic “merchants” from the activities of monopolistic enterprises and from unfair competition. The law of competition is also intended to provide a single economic space for manufacturers, which will help organize effective conditions for market functioning.

135 federal law is a rather lengthy document and it is not so easy to understand domestic laws (competition law is no exception) without special education and experience as a lawyer. It was for this purpose that the portal “PravPotrebitel” was created - to help ordinary citizens understand the essence of laws, including comments on them. After all, in order to protect your rights, not only do you need to know them (in what situation and what you have the right to), but also be able to use the tools for protecting rights in the Russian Federation.

On the website "PravPotrebitel" you have the opportunity to receive free consultation lawyer on the application of the legislation of the Russian Federation, taking into account their domestic and foreign practice in the interpretation of laws (with current amendments) and comments on them.

135 of the federal competition law devotes an entire chapter to the fight against unfair competition in the Russian Federation. Before studying the law of competition, it is necessary to understand the concept of unfair competition and its types. Unfair competition refers to any actions of “merchants” that may cause other producers to suffer (incur losses, lose consumer trust).

Comment: competition will receive the status of unfair competition if the manufacturer’s actions are aimed at gaining an advantage over other manufacturers and are not legal.

That is, one manufacturer acts in his own interests, interferes with the work of others, breaks the law, bringing his product to first place among similar ones. If these actions in any way affect the consumers themselves, and not just the “merchants,” then the situation will already be considered taking into account the law on the protection consumer rights. Competition law defines the attitude towards unfair competition only in relation to suppliers. It is worth considering that illegality and bad faith are different concepts. The integrity of the seller/manufacturer as interpreted by Federal Law 135 and other legislation of the Russian Federation is determined by the legality of its actions.

Comment: the legislation of the Russian Federation does not provide precise distinctions between the concepts of good faith and illegal actions.

Main features:

• necessarily expressed in the action of an economic entity (that is, inaction aimed at increasing the competitiveness of goods will not be considered unfair competition;
• violation of the rights of other economic entities, defined not only by the Federal Law of the Russian Federation, but also by standards business turnover, justice, etc.;
• the main (one might even say the only) goal of an economic entity using unfair competition methods is to gain advantages over other entrepreneurs;
• the presence of a threat (or fact) of causing damage (losses) to other entrepreneurs as a result of violation/restriction of their rights and undermining business reputation competitors.

135 federal law establishes a ban on various shapes and unfair competition practices.

The concept of an antimonopoly authority under Federal Law 135

The federal law we are considering protects the rights of product manufacturers. One of the tools in protecting the rights of “merchants” is antimonopoly policy. Its compliance is monitored by the antimonopoly authority. 135 federal law defines it:

• functions;
• powers;
• employee rights antimonopoly authority;
• duties of employees of the antimonopoly authority;
• the procedure for conducting inspections;
• the procedure for providing access to the territory of inspected facilities to employees of the antimonopoly authority;
• inspection procedure;
• the procedure for conducting documentation checks by employees of the antimonopoly authority;
• the procedure for drawing up a protocol based on the results of inspections;
• rules for recording the results of the audit;
• parting words about the consequences in case of violation of antimonopoly laws;
• rules for compliance by employees of the antimonopoly authority with all types of secrets established by law.

In Russia, the antimonopoly authority is the FAS (Federal Antimonopoly Service). The main function of the FAS is to prevent/detect/suppress violations antimonopoly policy. More detailed information can be obtained from the law itself or by contacting the site’s consultants.

Functions of competition law

To make the role of the law of competition in the life and activities of entrepreneurs in the Russian Federation more clear, it is necessary to study its functions in detail:

• price formation – thanks to competition, the possibility of determining the equilibrium price for goods is established, taking into account all production costs;
• regulation – thanks to the law of competition, it becomes possible to balance supply and demand;
• stimulation – thanks to the presence of several manufacturers similar goods In order to increase demand for their products, every entrepreneur tries to produce more quality product, increase assortment selection, reduce prices, etc., which leads to technical process and development;
• control - implies monitoring the competitiveness of each organization in the Russian Federation;
• differentiation of product manufacturers - competition gives a clear understanding of which production is effective and which is not.

Having carefully studied the functions of the law of competition, we can draw an unambiguous conclusion - competition is an integral component of modern market relations. Readers should understand what competitiveness is. Competitiveness refers to the presence of certain qualities and properties that give an entrepreneur an advantage over other manufacturers.

To make it easier to understand any regulatory framework - legal document comments are drawn up to it, explaining its provisions. To Federal Law 135 written article-by-article comments(i.e. a comment for each article). They can also be downloaded from our website.

Review of Federal Law 135

135 the law on protection of competition consists of 10 Chapters, which in turn include 54 articles. Of course, we will not list the contents of all articles of Article 135 in this article. If you need to study in detail the entire federal law and comments to it, you can do this by downloading all the documents on our website absolutely free. Short review Federal Law defining the procedure for protecting competition:

• the first chapter, as in any other Federal Law, talks about general provisions;
• the second chapter characterizes monopolistic activity;
• paragraph one of the second chapter defines prohibitions on various forms of unfair methods of competition;
• the third chapter contains information on the suppression of actions/inactions of the authorities if, as a result, the right of business entities to compete is limited;
• the fourth chapter lists antimonopoly requirements for price quotes, bidding, the procedure for concluding contracts, etc.;
• fifth chapter on preferences;
• the sixth chapter talks about the body exercising control over antimonopoly;
• from chapter seven we learn about how the state controls economic concentration;
• the eighth chapter talks about what punishment may be faced for violating antimonopoly regulations;
• the ninth chapter describes the procedure for proceedings in cases of violation of antimonopoly regulations;
• Chapter ten determines the date when Federal Law 135 comes into force.

As mentioned above, the federal law defining the procedure for protecting competition is a fairly voluminous document. The comments to it are even larger. To study this pile of documents you will have to spend a lot of time and effort. It is much easier to seek help from an experienced lawyer. You need to describe which of your rights were violated and under what circumstances using the form feedback. Almost instantly you will receive a response from qualified specialist With great experience work.

What relations are regulated by competition law? Read the material about what is considered a violation of the law and what changes have occurred over the past last years in legal regulation.

Read our article:

What is the scope of competition law?

The purpose of the Federal Law of July 26, 2006 No. 135-FZ “On the Protection of Competition” is to prevent monopolistic activity and unfair competition (Part 1, Article 1).

According to the law, unfair competition is actions that interfere with the economic activities of entities and create illegal advantages for some participants in the relationship over others. The law classifies as such activities the dissemination of false, inaccurate or distorted information, as a result of which business entities incur losses:

1. Falsity is understood as a complete discrepancy between information and the actual state of affairs.
2. Inaccuracy is the dissemination of information about a competitor in in full, which does not allow you to fully perceive it, to obtain a comprehensive understanding of a fact, action or event ().
3. Distortion is a situation in which an economic entity receives information about an existing or completed fact, action, event about a competitor in a form that will lead to incorrect perception by third parties, including consumers.

Business entities do not have the right to abuse their dominant position. Unlawful Law 135-FZ behavior, which is expressed in the form of:

• preventing, limiting, eliminating competition;
• infringement of the interests of other persons (business entities) in the sphere entrepreneurial activity or an indefinite number of consumers;
• violations established by regulatory legal acts pricing procedure (clause 2 of the clarifications of the Presidium of the FAS Russia dated August 29, 2017 No. 10, approved).

The company or entrepreneur is responsible for violations. It occurs if the FAS reveals:

• abuse dominant position on the commodity market (Article 14.31 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation);
• violation of pricing procedures (14.6 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation);
• facts of unfair competition (14.33 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).

In Law No. 135-FZ K the latter type include actions of a different nature if they violate the principles of protection of competition. For example, the FAS may recognize as illegal the behavior of a company that posts advertising information on a website.

In another case, the FAS and the court concluded that the company was misleading the consumer regarding the properties and quality of the product. On the label, the manufacturer indicated that the ice glaze content in frozen shrimp was within the normal range, while the actual glaze content was three times higher. The inspection showed that the quality of the product does not correspond to the data on the label. This is a violation of the law on competition and restriction of monopolistic activities ().

Relations between economic entities are developing, and therefore regulation and the scope of powers are changing. The law must apply to new relationships. Let's look at what's new in latest edition federal law 135-FZ on protection of competition.

As part of the amendments to Federal Law No. 135, FAS received the right to challenge tenders within the framework of competition protection

On July 3, 2016, a number of amendments were introduced to the law. In particular, the legislator indicated the right of the FAS to file a lawsuit. Antimonopoly service may recognize tenders, requests for quotations, proposals and transactions concluded as a result of such tenders as invalid if they violate the law (Part 4 of Article 17 of Federal Law No. 135-FZ “On the Protection of Competition”, as amended).

FAS took advantage of the opportunity provided by the Russian competition law

FAS demanded:

• admit invalid results electronic auction for the provision of services for the maintenance of the road network,
• apply the consequences of invalidity of the transaction in the form of termination of the government contract.

The reason was the rejection of the application of one of the participants and his appeal to the antimonopoly authority. FAS considered the participant’s complaint, considered the customer’s actions illegal, issued an order and sent statement of claim. The commission rejected one application out of three. The first part of the application for participation must contain specific indicators product used. The commission did not admit the company due to the fact that in the application:

• did not indicate the size of the microglass bead fraction,
• used the abbreviation "min" to denote the unit of measurement "minute".

According to the commission, this violated the requirements auction documentation. The court concluded that this could not be a reason for refusing admission to the auction. The participant did not violate Federal Law 44 or competition law. The Commission has the right to reject the application of a participant in an electronic auction if he:

• did not provide the information required by law (Part 3 of Art. Law No. 44-FZ);
• provided information that does not correspond provided for by the requirements documentation about the auction (Part 4, Article 67 of Law No. 44-FZ).

The court emphasized that the grounds for rejection were not included in those indicated and declared the auction invalid. Content voidable transaction excludes recognition of it as invalid from the moment it was committed, therefore restoration of rights is possible by terminating the transaction for the future. The court applied the consequences of the invalidity of the transaction in the form of termination of the contract for the future ().

Changes to the law on protection of competition expanded the powers of the FAS in dealing with complaints

Changes in the latest edition of Law No. 135 on the protection of competition introduced new powers of the FAS. The effect of a normative act specifies the areas to which it applies. For example, the legislator extended the right to appeal against actions and inactions in relation to organizations that operate networks (Article 1, Part 6, Part 9, Part 11, Part 13, Article 18 of Law No. 135-FZ).

The changes clarified the scope of action of the FAS. The antimonopoly authority has the right to consider complaints against acts and actions of government bodies that are involved in the provision of public or municipal services in a relationship legal entities And individual entrepreneurs– subjects of urban planning relations, procedures that are included in exhaustive lists actions in the areas of construction (clause 2, part 1, article 18.1).

The law also provided for the possibility of extending the time for searching for additional information if it is required to consider a complaint by the commission of the antimonopoly authority. Previously, FAS considered complaints within seven working days from the date of receipt. The changes made it possible to postpone the deadline once if it is necessary to obtain Additional information(Part 14.1 Article 18.1 of Law No. 135-FZ).

Competition is a special rivalry between subjects of economic relations. Each of them strives to create for himself Better conditions and get maximum business results.

Classification

Competition can be:

• perfect;
• unscrupulous;
• imperfect;
• price;
• monopolistic;
• business;
• banking, etc.

Main types

IN economic system there are two basic types The first is a theoretical construction, an ideal. This model is used to develop a methodology for analyzing other market structures. The imperfect type is represented by monopoly and oligopoly. By certain actions these species are not different, but they have a number of specific features.

A monopoly, for example, is usually represented on the market by one company that has enough large sizes. For its successful functioning it is necessary to constantly maintain uniqueness. An oligopoly is formed by several companies that have the opportunity to agree on a joint influence on the market. One of the key goals is to maintain stability while maintaining a given level of profitability. Under monopolistic competition understand a model in which each company does not have a significant influence on the state of the market. Accordingly, subjects act according to their capabilities.

Within this model, the main emphasis is usually on differentiation. IN in this case there is no strategic behavior (unlike oligopoly). With the development of the market, issues related to unfair competition among entities have become increasingly relevant. The main steps to regulate relations in the market sphere were taken after the collapse of the USSR.

Normative base

In the Russian Federation, the concept of legislation regulating competition issues is implemented through the approval of a special legal act. Into it along with the complex antitrust provisions additional standards have been included. Initially, Law of the RSFSR No. 948-1 did not disclose Art. 10 of this act provided general ban at her. Normally they were also installed. However, this list was approximate. Later, changes were made to the legal act.

Federal Law "On Protection of Competition"

Currently in effect new law dated July 26, 2006 B Federal Law "On Protection of Competition""legal and organizational foundations, methods of preventing and suppressing monopolistic activities. IN normative act the tools have been updated, the mechanism for regulating relations in financial and commodity markets. The fight against unfair competition has thus reached a qualitatively new level.

Definition

The problem of unfair competition has necessitated the adoption of operational legislative measures. One of them was change legal framework concerning monopolistic activities. Law No. 135 combined the provisions of regulations No. 948-1 and No. 117. In the new document, the term “unfair competition” has undergone some amendments. The changes, however, did not affect its content.

According to Art. 4 (clause 9), any actions are considered unfair competition economic entities or their groups, aimed at obtaining advantages when conducting business activities, contrary to law, customs of trade, requirements of reasonableness, integrity, fairness, causing or capable of causing losses to other business entities or damaging their business reputation.

Specifics

An important conclusion follows from the content of the definition. Key element is always action. Even if all others are present, inaction cannot in this case be considered a violation of the law. This is different from monopolistic activity. Under certain circumstances, this can also be inaction. The problem of unfair competition arises within the framework of relations between subjects in the same market. At the same time, the person conducting economic activity and in relation to whom the crimes are committed misconduct, and the party violating the requirements of the law must be in a certain interaction. They must be competitors.

The key qualifying element is the contradiction of the subject’s actions to the law, the requirements of integrity, justice, reasonableness, and customs. Another important sign of recognition of competition as unfair is the infliction of losses or damage to reputation. Harm or financial losses don't have to be real. In this case, it is sufficient to have the potential to cause them.

Forms of unfair competition

Article 14 (Part 1) of Law No. 135 contains a general prohibition on unlawful actions of some subjects in relation to others. In addition, normally defined various actions, which are regarded as . They are grouped into 5 categories. The law identifies the following:

Important point

The above actions are subject to an unconditional prohibition, regardless of their compliance with the conditions included in the interpretation of the term " unfair competition". Arbitrage practice proceeds from the fact that the above manifestations do not need to be correlated with the definition enshrined in Art. 4. Provided for in Art. 14 compositions are considered as direct rules applied directly.

Personalization means

Part two art. 14 of Law No. 135 includes provisions that prohibit unfair competition in intellectual property. They don't have approximate composition offenses. By legal construction These provisions are close to the norms of Art. 10 GK. By virtue of this article, it is prohibited to abuse the right, use legal possibilities to limit competition. The latter is not covered by the definition enshrined in Art. 4 of Law No. 135. However, despite this, the actions of subjects that violate the provisions of Art. 14, part 2, are considered as abuse of rights in other forms.

Dissemination of false, distorted, inaccurate information

This is the first form of unfair competition established in Art. 14. It should be noted that the content includes the dissemination of distorted and inaccurate information. This has special law enforcement significance, since many subjects, avoiding direct attacks, use veiled means. Discrediting is aimed at attracting buyers to products by providing false, distorted or inaccurate information about a competitor, its services or products. These actions can lead to damage not only for the business entity, but also for the consumer. There are also situations when a person disseminates information about himself that does not correspond to reality. However, it does not aim to discredit other economic entities. The key signs of this type of unfair competition include:

Misrepresentation

It, like the dissemination of defective information, is aimed at attracting consumers to their services, goods or work. However, in this case, attacks against other subjects are not used. An unscrupulous manufacturer provides false information regarding their products. At the same time, misrepresentation is not limited false statements. The subject can also provide reliable information, which for one reason or another can form misrepresentation about the object. In this case, neither intent nor intention to cause damage will matter.

Incorrect comparison

Initially, this composition contained an important clause in the RSFSR Law. In the normative act, an incorrect comparison was regarded as inappropriate advertising. As a form of unfair competition it can be used independently or included in other actions aimed at discrediting the subject or misleading consumers. The world market is celebrating different attitude to the admissibility of using comparisons. Some experts believe that criticism of a competitor, if it is based on facts and is truthful, will be very useful. Other authors fundamentally reject the possibility of comparing products or services. Domestic legislation regulating competition issues does not create obstacles to truthful criticism. Meanwhile, it should be treated with caution, given the obvious interest of the subjects expressing it.

Illegal use of knowledge products

Exchange, sale and other introduction into circulation of products is not allowed if the results were used unlawfully intellectual work and means of individualization of products, services, legal entities equivalent to them. This composition the offense is associated with actions capable of causing confusion in relation to another manufacturer. It is caused by a violation exclusive rights for groceries intellectual work And

Additionally

The third part of Article 14 of Federal Law No. 135 provides for the possibility of submitting a decision to the antimonopoly authority on violation of the provisions of Part 2 of this norm in relation to the use and acquisition of exclusive rights to trademark to invalidate the security legal protection. Heading off said act to Rospatent. This opportunity can be used interested party whose rights were violated dishonest act competitor.

Currently wide use received the concept of competition. The definition implies rivalry between subjects of economic relations, which is expressed in a certain kind of action that excludes the possibility of each of them in unilaterally influence General terms commodity relations. In the Russian Federation, competition between economic entities is controlled by legislative acts. Consider the main provisions and last changes FZ-135 will be helped by the presented article.

The Federal Law “On the Protection of Competition” in the Russian Federation was developed and came into force on July 26, 2006. Goals legislative act advocate ensuring a single economic space for free movement goods and free exercise economic activity. Ensuring competition protection and creating favorable conditions for the productive functioning of the market for goods and services.

The subject of regulation of Federal Law No. 135 is the economic relations of market entities, as well as unfair monopolistic activities of individual market elements. The scope of application of the Law “On Protection of Competition” extends to Russian and foreign organizations and companies federal institutions authorities, individual entrepreneurs and extra-budgetary institutions(TSB RF). The structure of the legislative act includes 10 chapters and 54 articles.

Due to recent changes, some provisions of the federal law have undergone adjustments. The date of adoption of the latest changes is January 10, 2016.

Latest changes to the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition”

The Federal Law “On the Protection of Competition” reveals the rules and principles of conducting economic relations in Russia. For 2017, the content of Federal Law-135 was amended to some legislative provisions. To view the latest changes antimonopoly law, let's look at the contents of some articles.

Article 4

The indicated article reveals legislative concepts established by Federal Law.

The fundamental definitions of Federal Law No. 135 “On Protection of Competition” are:

• Product;
• Financial service;
• Interchangeable goods;
• Commodity market;
• Economic entity;
• Competition;
• Unfair competition;
• Monopoly activity;
• Antimonopoly authority;
• Competitive price;
• Agreement;
• Consumer.

For 2017 Art. No. 4 has not been changed.

Article 10

Antimonopoly Federal Law No. 135 prohibits the following actions:

• Establishing a monopolistic high or reduced cost of products;
• Prohibition on the removal of goods from circulation on the basis of an inflated price of the product;
• Forcing an opponent to sign an agreement on terms unfavorable to him;
• Unjustified reduction or cessation of production of an economically advantageous product;
• Formation of discriminatory conditions entailing unfair competition;
• Creating barriers to the release or entry into the market of a competitor's products.

The main provisions of article FZ-135, number 10, have not changed.

Article 14

Article 14 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” has lost force, but the components legal norm continue to apply in the latest version of the law.

• Prohibition of unfair competition by discrediting;
• It is prohibited to mislead consumers and counterparties;
• Competition is considered unfair if there has been an incorrect comparison;
• The law prohibits the use of intellectual property results;
• Restriction on unfair competition through mixing;
• The use or disclosure of commercial or legally protected secrets is prohibited.

The following articles have not been amended:

Article 17

The article reveals the fundamental antimonopoly requirements for bidding and requesting quotations for the cost of goods. In the latest edition of Federal Law-135, paragraph 4 of Art. 17 touched upon the changes. The content of the paragraph was supplemented with information regarding violation of the rules outlined in the article. Based new information, the antimonopoly agency has the right to file a claim in court if violations are detected regarding bidding, requests for quotations and transactions.

Article 15

Article 15 of Federal Law No. 135 reveals provisions that relate to actions or inactions of federal, municipal and local authorities authorities and other bodies and organizations involved in the provision of services.

The main provisions of Article 135 of the Federal Antimonopoly Law:

• It is not allowed to impose a ban on business entities in any economic field;
• It is prohibited to interfere with the implementation of activities by business entities by establishing requirements not provided for by the legal acts of the Russian Federation;
• The creation of discriminatory conditions is not allowed;
• Prohibition on limiting consumers in choosing business agents;
• The access of a subject of economic relations to the necessary information cannot be limited.

In the latest edition of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition”, no changes were made to Article 15.

Article 18

The article of the antimonopoly legislative act reveals the principles of concluding agreements with financial organizations.

• Federal, municipal, local executive bodies And off-budget funds The Russian Federation is obliged to conclude an agreement with a financial organization, subject to open competition and auction;
• The authorized body has the right to introduce requirements regarding the assessment financial stability organizations;
• Amendments or cancellation of the agreement are carried out on the basis of Federal Law 44;
• Duration of provision agreements financial services is 5 years;
• Violation of the provisions of Art. 18 of the Federal Law on the Protection of Competition provides a legal basis for the court to invalidate trade transactions.

In the latest edition, changes to this article were not included.

Article 25

The changes affected the fifth paragraph of the article, which was supplemented with a new provision. The content of the provision states that if there is legal grounds, can be carried out unscheduled inspection in relation to a small business entity only after consultation with the prosecutor's office and in the presence of an order Prosecutor General RF.

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Unfair competition is a common occurrence in economic relations RF. A federal law was developed to control and regulate the activities of business entities.

Legislative acts of the Russian Federation regularly undergo changes. For getting up-to-date information you can Federal Law-135 “On the Protection of Competition” with amendments and latest amendments.

Changes

If you need to obtain additional complete and specific information regarding the antimonopoly policy of the Russian Federation, you must read the comments to the law. To do this you can