The Settlement Agreement Request No. 08700.010553/2024-71 set a relevant precedent in CADE’s enforcement practice by involving, for the first time, the assessment of potential algorithmic collusion associated with automated pricing tools. The case originated from an investigation conducted by CADE’s General Superintendence into the “Aprix” software, developed by Intelprice and used by fuel retailers to generate price suggestions based on data shared by the very gas stations using the platform. This dynamic raised concerns about the possible inducement of uniform commercial conduct, as the system aggregated competitively sensitive information and produced recommendations that could potentially align competitors’ pricing strategies.
CADE concluded that the evidence in the case file, including the company’s own marketing materials, indicated incentives for coordinated strategies and discouraged individual price reductions, with narratives referring to “collective losses” resulting from isolated pricing decisions. The analysis conducted by CADE’s Department of Economic Studies reinforced these concerns by identifying statistically significant price increases among the gas stations that adopted the software. This body of evidence helped consolidate the perception of competitive risks associated with the design and use of the tool.
In this context, CADE’s Tribunal unanimously approved the settlement agreement proposed by Intelprice, which acknowledged its involvement in the conduct and undertook to: (i) withdraw the software from the market and reformulate it in compliance with competition rules; (ii) implement a robust antitrust compliance program; and (iii) pay a pecuniary contribution of BRL 70,803.40.
The decision highlights CADE’s growing attention to the competitive risks arising from the use of pricing algorithms and contributes to the development of initial analytical parameters for assessing this practice in Brazil.
