The Turkish Administrative Court upholds the fines imposed by the Competition Authority on two electricity sales companies for abuse of dominance (Rescs / Ayedas)

(1) Introduction In 2018, in its Enerjisa decision, [1] the Turkish Competition Board (“ Board ”) had imposed administrative fines amounting to a total of TRY 143 million on three retail electricity sales companies (namely AYESAŞ, BAŞKENT and TOROSLAR) (together, the “ RESCs ”) and one electricity distribution company (namely, AYEDAŞ), all of which were controlled by Enerjisa Enerji A.Ş. (“ Enerjisa ”) for abusing their dominant positions in various relevant markets. The above Enerjisa subsidiaries all applied for a judicial review of the Board`s decision. In its respective judgments, Ankara 13th Administrative Court (“ Court ”) upheld the fines imposed 23 on the RESCs, [2] but annulled the fine imposed on AYEDAŞ. [3] (2) Background of Enerjisa Decision The conducts that were