Within the scope of the investigation conducted according to the Competition Board Decision dated 29.08.2019 and numbered 19-30/453-M in response to the claim that standard setting and certificating services regarding damage recovery centers and equivalent part suppliers, and mass spare part purchase activities by OSEM Sertifikasyon A.Ş. prevented competition; damage management system called “OSEM Portal” would make competition sensitive information transparent, the Board evaluated the commitments submitted by Insurance Association of Turkey in its meeting dated 07.01.2021. According to the decision numbered 21-01/8-6 taken in the said meeting, it was decided that the commitments submitted by the parties shall be accepted since the commitments would eliminate the competitive concerns and the commitments submitted according to article 43 of the Act no 4054 on the Protection of Competition Authority shall be made binding and the investigation about the parties shall be terminated.

As known, with the Act dated 16.06.2020 and numbered 7246, amendments were made to the third paragraph of article 43 of the Act no 4054 and commitment procedure was introduced. Within the framework of the commitment procedure, the commitments submitted voluntarily by undertakings are evaluated by the Board. The commitments which are found to be able to solve competitive concerns become binding for the undertakings concerned and a decision can be taken not to initiate an investigation or terminate the ongoing investigation.

The decision taken by the Competition Board about the Insurance Association of Turkey and OSEM Sertifikasyon A.Ş. is the second decision where the investigation is terminated due to the commitments given during the investigation stage. The decision is also important because it is the first decision where structural and behavioral commitments are accepted together.