Countries › Dominican Republic › Guide › 13. Regulation › Cartels and agreements between competitors

Cartels and agreements between competitors

Last verified: 2026-10-30 · Status: Stable

Ley 42-08 bans agreements between competitors that fix prices, rig bids, share markets or limit output. Fines run from 30 to 3,000 minimum salaries, with a floor of 200 for bid rigging. On the top private tariff that is about US$1.48 million at most, so the money risk is modest by global standards, but the agreement is void and personal exposure exists.

USD figures use the Banco Central de la República Dominicana reference selling rate of RD$60.9007 per US dollar, as shown on its home page on 30 October 2026, rounded to the cent.

Key facts

Minimum fine for cartels, in minimum salaries	30 minimum salariesLey 42-08 art. 61, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Maximum fine for cartels and abuse, in minimum salaries	3000 minimum salariesLey 42-08 art. 61, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Top fine at the large company tariff	89964000 DOPLey 42-08 art. 61; Resolución CNS-01-2025, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Top fine at the large company tariff	1477224.40 USDLey 42-08 art. 61; Resolución CNS-01-2025, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Minimum fine for bid rigging	200 minimum salariesLey 42-08 art. 61 literal b, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Time limit for action after the conduct stops	1 yearsLey 42-08 art. 56, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Individuals in a cartel can face criminal rules	Yes, by reference to the Código Procesal Penal; no specific prison term in the law textLey 42-08 art. 61 paragraph I, as of 2026-10-30 · in force

The rule

1. The law covers every economic agent, public or private, for profit or not, Dominican or foreign, that operates in the country. It also reaches conduct that starts abroad if it restricts competition in the country.Ley 42-08 General de Defensa de la Competencia, art. 3 and literal a, 2008-01-16 official text · verified 2026-10-30

2. Collective labor agreements under the Código de Trabajo fall outside the law.Ley 42-08 General de Defensa de la Competencia, art. 3 paragraph, 2008-01-16 official text · verified 2026-10-30

3. Practices, acts and agreements between competitors, express or tacit, written or oral, are banned if their object or effect, actual or potential, is to impose unjustified barriers. An agreement includes any exchange of will able to align competitive behavior.Ley 42-08 General de Defensa de la Competencia, art. 4 and art. 5, 2008-01-16 official text · verified 2026-10-30

4. The listed conduct is fixing prices, discounts, surcharges or other sale terms, including information exchange with that object or effect; coordinating bids or abstention in public tenders; sharing markets, suppliers or customers; limiting production, distribution or services; and shutting out competitors from a buyer or seller position.Ley 42-08 General de Defensa de la Competencia, art. 5 literals a to e, 2008-01-16 official text · verified 2026-10-30

5. An agreement listed in art. 5 is allowed if it is ancillary to an integration or association adopted to raise productive efficiency or promote innovation or productive investment.Ley 42-08 General de Defensa de la Competencia, art. 7 numeral 1, 2008-01-16 official text · verified 2026-10-30

6. Whoever seeks the sanction must prove the anticompetitive effect, while the investigated party must prove efficiencies. The acting party must also show the capacity of those investigated to create unjustified barriers, by proving an individual or collective dominant position in the relevant market.Ley 42-08 General de Defensa de la Competencia, art. 7 paragraphs I to III, 2008-01-16 official text · verified 2026-10-30

7. Fines for art. 5 conduct other than bid rigging run from 30 to 3,000 minimum salaries.
Example: 30 x RD$29,988 = RD$899,640; 3,000 x RD$29,988 = RD$89,964,000 / US$14,772.24 to US$1,477,224.40Ley 42-08 General de Defensa de la Competencia, art. 61 literal a, 2008-01-16 official text · verified 2026-10-30

8. Fines for bid rigging run from 200 to 3,000 minimum salaries.
Example: 200 x RD$29,988 = RD$5,997,600 / US$98,481.63Ley 42-08 General de Defensa de la Competencia, art. 61 literal b, 2008-01-16 official text · verified 2026-10-30

9. Minimum salary here means the official minimum for the sector of the company or person sanctioned.Ley 42-08 General de Defensa de la Competencia, art. 61 paragraph VI, 2008-01-16 official text · verified 2026-10-30

10. Repeat offenders can get an extra fine of up to double. An unpaid fine can rise 3% of the original amount each month.Ley 42-08 General de Defensa de la Competencia, art. 61 paragraphs II and IV, 2008-01-16 official text · verified 2026-10-30

11. Paying does not cure the conduct, which must stop at once. Banned agreements have no legal effect and obligations under them are void.Ley 42-08 General de Defensa de la Competencia, art. 61 paragraphs III and V, 2008-01-16 official text · verified 2026-10-30

12. Individuals who take part directly, as accomplices or as concealers, whether personally, as officials or representing a company, are punished as the law's text says, under the Código Procesal Penal.Ley 42-08 General de Defensa de la Competencia, art. 61 paragraph I, 2008-01-16 official text · verified 2026-10-30

13. The authority weighs the type and reach of the restriction, market size, effects, intent, market share and economic capacity, duration, and recidivism.Ley 42-08 General de Defensa de la Competencia, art. 62, 2008-01-16 official text · verified 2026-10-30

14. Actions lapse one year after the conduct stops.Ley 42-08 General de Defensa de la Competencia, art. 56, 2008-01-16 official text · verified 2026-10-30

15. From 1 February 2026 the private tariff is RD$29,988 for large companies, RD$27,489.60 for medium, RD$18,421.20 for small and RD$16,993.20 for micro companies.Resolución CNS-01-2025, Third, 2025-02-26 official text · verified 2026-10-30

Conduct	Multiple	Large company	Micro company
Cartel other than bid rigging, floor	30	RD$899,640 (US$14,772.24)	RD$509,796 (US$8,370.94)
Bid rigging, floor	200	RD$5,997,600 (US$98,481.63)	RD$3,398,640 (US$55,806.26)
Cartel, abuse, ceiling	3,000	RD$89,964,000 (US$1,477,224.40)	RD$50,979,600 (US$837,093.83)
False information, floor	50	RD$1,499,400 (US$24,620.41)	RD$849,660 (US$13,951.56)
False information, ceiling	200	RD$5,997,600 (US$98,481.63)	RD$3,398,640 (US$55,806.26)

Fines under art. 61 at the 2026 private tariffs

Worked example

Large company, cartel, top of range: 3,000 x RD$29,988 = RD$89,964,000 (US$1,477,224.40).
Same conduct, small company: 3,000 x RD$18,421.20 = RD$55,263,600 (US$907,437.85).
Bid rigging, large company, floor: 200 x RD$29,988 = RD$5,997,600 (US$98,481.63).
Late payment on a RD$10,000,000 fine: 3% is RD$300,000 (US$4,926.05) for each month, on the original amount.

Step by step

Map any contact with competitors, including trade association meetings, joint purchasing and price surveys.
Stop sharing current or future prices, discounts or tender plans at once; information exchange with that object is listed conduct.
Before a joint venture, write down the efficiency or investment goal, because art. 7 protects only ancillary restraints.
If a cartel surfaces, take advice on leniency before anything else. See regulation/competition-investigations-and-leniency.
Screen tender teams: ProCompetencia keeps a collusion section on its site with tools for buyers.

Common traps

Bid rigging starts at 200 minimum salaries, nearly seven times the general floor.
The fine base is the sector tariff, so a small company pays far less than a large one for the same conduct: 3,000 x RD$18,421.20 against 3,000 x RD$29,988.
Fines do not scale with sales today. A fine that looks small is not the whole cost: the agreement is void and victims can sue for damages under art. 63.
Art. 7 reads as needing proof of a dominant position even for a cartel, which is unusual. Do not plan around it, since the reform draft aims to harden cartel rules.
The one year limit runs from when the conduct stops, so a long running practice stays exposed until it ends.
Foreign conduct counts if it has effects in the country, so a regional allocation deal made abroad is in scope.

Sources

← Regulatory compliance essentialsAbuse of a dominant position →

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