Antitrust Authority Releases ‘Doctrine on Excessive Pricing’

The Israel Antitrust Authority on April 10 released a policy doctrine detailing the rationale and guidelines for its decision to begin enforcing a previous prohibition on overpricing by monopolies.

The document—called a policy doctrine—establishes the legal and economic tests by which the authority will determine whether a monopoly is price-gouging. Companies that control more than half of a given product’s market share and charge consumers more than 20 percent above or below its production cost will be investigated, the authority warned.

Although violators will not be subject to criminal sanctions, they will be fined by the authority and will be ...