Abuse of Dominant Position
Conduct by an undertaking holding a dominant market position that abuses that position — such as unfair pricing, limiting production to consumers' prejudice, discriminatory treatment, or tying — prohibited by s.18 Competition Act 1998 (the Chapter II prohibition) where it may affect UK trade.
Independent editorial summary — not the official statute text. Read the official version on legislation.gov.uk.
Section 18(1) of the Competition Act 1998 prohibits "any conduct on the part of one or more undertakings which amounts to the abuse of a dominant position in a market" where it may affect trade within the United Kingdom. This is formally called the Chapter II prohibition. "Dominant position" is defined by reference to dominance within the United Kingdom, or any part of it, so the prohibition can bite on regional as well as national dominance.
Section 18(2) gives four non-exhaustive examples of abuse: directly or indirectly imposing unfair purchase or selling prices or other unfair trading conditions; limiting production, markets or technical development to the prejudice of consumers; applying dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions with other trading parties, placing them at a competitive disadvantage; and making contracts conditional on acceptance of supplementary obligations that have no connection, by their nature or commercial usage, with the subject of the contract (tying). Because the prohibition targets unilateral conduct by a single dominant firm, it is distinct from the Chapter I prohibition on anti-competitive agreements between undertakings.
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Official sources
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