The President of the Polish competition authority (UOKiK) has launched an investigation into Scott Sportech Polska, a company accused of limiting competition through market division in the bicycle sales sector.

Scott Sportech Polska is the exclusive distributor of the popular Scott bicycle brand, which is sold through approximately 90 independent dealers across Poland. The allegations center around the company's practices that reportedly prohibited dealers from selling bicycles online. While dealers could list products on their websites, customers were allegedly encouraged to seek out physical stores for purchases. Additionally, dealers were not allowed to sell bicycles on platforms like Allegro or OLX.

This ban on online sales may have restricted competition among dealers to a narrow area or even eliminated it entirely if only one seller operated in a given region. The investigation revealed that Scott Sportech Polska monitored compliance with these restrictions and intervened when dealers attempted to sell bicycles online.

The consequences of the online sales ban could lead to market division, as dealers would not need to compete for customers nationwide but only with those near their physical store locations. This could discourage consumers from purchasing the best and most affordable bicycles due to the inconvenience of traveling long distances to physical stores.

For violating competition laws, Scott Sportech Polska faces a potential fine of up to 10% of its annual turnover. This is not the first intervention by UOKiK regarding online bicycle sales; in 2023, the authority imposed a fine of approximately 2.5 million PLN on Merida Polska for similar practices.