SIXTEEN tour coach agencies, including many major players, and a bus association are under probe for allegedly fixing the prices of express bus tickets to Malaysia between 2006 and last year.
The coach companies and the Express Bus Agencies Association were on Tuesday given six weeks by the Competition Commission of Singapore to submit their defence.
The tour agencies include names like Grassland Express & Tours, Nam Ho Travel Service and Five Star Tours.
Those who were contacted yesterday, however, either denied fixing prices or said they had not seen the notice sent by the commission. A number of agencies did not return calls or were uncontactable.
The commission said that because an investigation was on, it would not disclose specifics or say what triggered the probe.
But its spokesman said price-fixing was a "serious infringement" of the Competition Act, and that businesses which collude to fix prices "are in fact agreeing to stop competing" for financial gain.
The 16 companies and the association have been issued a Proposed Infringement Decision, a written notice laying out the facts.
When contacted, the manager of the Express Bus Agencies Association, Mr Tan Kah Hin, declined comment. He would only say that the association's executive committee will meet on the matter tomorrow.
A preliminary check by The Straits Times on Tuesday turned up a range of prices for coach rides to Malaysia.
For example, a one-way ride to Kuala Lumpur on board a standard 21- to 26-seater bus on Fridays costs between $33 and more than $40.
Coach fares varied depending on dates of travel and the seating1/8 capacity of the coaches offered by the agencies.
Ms Janice Lim, manager of one of the suspected companies, Luxury Tours & Travel, said: "As far as we are concerned, we did not fix any prices." The spokesman of another company in the list, Alisan, expressed shock that the company had been implicated.
She said the company recently changed hands and its new custodians were unaware of any alleged price-fixing.
This is the second time that the commission has singled out a particular group of businesses by issuing them Proposed Infringement Decision notices.
Last year, six pest companies were investigated and then fined between $4,300 and $92,600 for bid-rigging.
The commission was set up in 2005 to promote healthy competitive markets and to administer the Competition Act.
Among other infringements, it looks out for cartel action, that is, when competitors agree to adjust prices or charge the same prices.
The penalty for companies or organisations found guilty of anti-competitive practices can be a fine of up to 10 per cent of their annual turnover here for each year of infringement, for up to three years.
Companies that have come under the commission's radar and received warnings include school bus operators and pastry- makers.
