Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

Competition law definition

What does Competition law mean? Competition law describes the body of antitrust rules that govern business conduct which restricts competition and the review of mergers and acquisitions. In practice it addresses anti‑competitive agreements (cartels and concerted practices), abuse of dominance, merger control and enforcement. It is a descriptive term rather than a single defined concept, and draws on statute, guidance and case law. United Kingdom (England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland): the principal rules are the chapter i and Chapter II prohibitions in the Competition Act 1998, and the Enterprise Act 2002 regime for merger control and the criminal cartel offence (Part...

UK CMA fines Dar Lighting £1.5m for online RPM under Chapter I CA98, with 35% uplift for ignoring warning letters; settlement reached

Published by a LexisNexis Competition expert

Practice notes

CASE HUB ARCHIVED

This archived case hub reflects the position as at the decision date of 23 March 2022; it is no longer updated. See further, timeline, commentary and related cases.

Case facts

Outline: A Chapter I CA98 probe alleged that Dar infringed UK competition rules by curbing retailers’ ability to Discount the online prices of domestic lighting products it supplied.

Latest development

On 23 March 2022, the CMA confirmed a settlement. It levied total penalties of £1.5m on Dar and its parent, Castlegate 624, incorporating a 20% reduction for settlement and a 35% uplift for failing to take adequate steps after two CMA warning letters and for intentionally breaching Competition law.

Parties

Dar Lighting Limited (Dar): Där is a prominent UK designer and distributor of domestic lighting products.
Castlegate 624 Ltd (Castlegate 624): Dar’s parent company.

Market(s)

Domestic lighting products.

Background

CMA’s warning letters: In two separate “warning letters” issued before the investigation began, the CMA cautioned Dar that it suspected the firm was limiting retailers’ discounting, which would constitute unLawful RPM...

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Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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