As part of the investigation, unannounced inspections were carried out at the headquarters of the Romanian College of Dentists and the Iasi branch of the College of Dentists.
The competition authority suspects the Romanian College of Dentists might have set minimum fees for the services provided by its members and might have introduced certain restrictions on personnel recruitment from one dental practice to another, aiming to divide the specialized dental labor market and impose a minimum wage level.
This practice, known as ‘no-poach’, involves refraining from contacting, recruiting or hiring people who work and/or have worked at rival dental practices. It actually eliminates real competition in the market for attracting employees, decreasing labor mobility, even holding it captive. Basically, these agreements lead to artificially maintaining salaries for such specializations at levels below the real market rate.
The antitrust body also suspects the Romanian College of Dentists might have imposed restrictions on dental practices to grant discounts or other material advantages/facilities to attract or retain patients.
The competition law prohibits any agreements between companies, decisions of associations and concerted practices that prevent, restrict or distort competition on the Romanian market by setting prices or other trading conditions.
Unannounced inspections are authorized by the Bucharest Court of Appeal and are justified by the need to obtain all the information and documents necessary to clarify the possible practice of unfair competition.