The National Center for Expertise and Certification (NCEC) has been fined 592.7 million Tenge for abusing its dominant position in the market. Following investigations conducted by the Department of the Agency for Protection and Development of Competition of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the city of Astana, NCEC, an organization providing services in the field of metrology and certification, has been held administratively responsible for abusing its dominant position in the market.
The company was found guilty of setting monopolistically high prices for metrology services (verification and calibration of measuring instruments) from January 2020 to December 2021, and for services related to confirming the conformity of goods (testing, certification, declaration of products and services) from January 2021 to August 2022.
The investigation revealed that NCEC included non-directly related costs in the cost of services, leading to unjustified price increases. Administrative proceedings have been initiated against NCEC by the Department in Astana, and the case materials have been forwarded to the court.
The total fine amounting to 592.7 million Tenge has been paid in full. Previously, the Agency for Combating Corruption uncovered embezzlement of 14 billion Tenge in the education sector.
