Russia: Issued FAS ruling imposing a fine of 3 billion rubles of illegally obtained income to the state budget

On 14 October 2024, the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) required MTS, a Mobile network operator company, to transfer RUB 3 billion of illegally obtained income to the state budget. This follows an antitrust investigation in which MTS was found to have violated the Competition Protection Law by unjustifiably raising mobile communication prices by an average of 8% for over 30 million subscribers in April and May 2024. In addition to returning the illicit income, MTS is also required to lower the tariffs for those affected. The FAS noted that this is the first time such a measure has been applied to a violation of this nature.