The Commission has ordered Mount Sinai International School (MSIS) to cease and desist from engaging in restrictive business practices in the supply of school uniforms. MSIS was an international school operating in Lilongwe from nursery, primary and secondary school.
The Commission found that, in the provision of educational services, MSIS engaged in tying of goods and services, by making the provision education services to students’ conditional to purchase of uniforms from the school itself. Students were denied the opportunity to buy school uniforms from other suppliers, offering competitive prices. Apart from limiting students’ right to procure uniforms from suppliers of their choice, the Commission determined that the conduct was anti-competitive as it impeded competition in contravention of Section 32(2)(d) of the Competition and Fair Trading Act.
Accordingly, the Commission ordered MSIS to cease and desist from engaging in anticompetitive behaviour in the supply of school uniforms. Further, the Commission ordered MSIS to enhance competitiveness in the supply of uniforms through an open and transparent system of identifying potential suppliers.