The Competition Tribunal resolved an inquiry by the Association of Dental Surgeons, regarding reference tariffs for dental procedures. The Tribunal mentioned the following conditions for a reference tariff, such as the one that generated the inquiry, to generate less competitive risks.
No reference tariffs should be established for services in which a reduced number of suppliers exist in the relevant market.
Reference tariffs should not be based on estimations of expected revenues.
In the rest of cases, reference tariffs must:
- Be established based on historic variables (prices, costs, among others);
- Be determined by an independent third party;
- Provide aggregate information; so that it is not possible to identify providers;
- Be of voluntary membership; no sanctions can be imposed on those associates who do not adopt them; and,
- Be available to the general public.
Regarding the subsidiary petition of the inquirers; this is, if the estimation of costs and/or supplies to be used by dentists, as well as providing any information on the readjustability of those costs, supplies and/or valuation of dental services can be considered as conducts contrary to D.L. N° 211, the Tribunal