Quick Read: Competition Law Updates In Türkiye – September 2025

October 2025 – In September, the Turkish Competition Authority ("TCA") continued to pursue an assertive enforcement agenda, initiating new investigations in the music streaming platform, meal card, ready-mix concrete, and dairy sectors. In parallel, the TCA published several reasoned decisions spanning a wide array of industries, including industrial enzymes, insurance, poultry, flour, and TV broadcasting. This issue of Quick Read provides you with a concise overview of the most notable competition law developments in Türkiye during September.

TCA narrows the scope of the right of access to case files

The TCA has issued formal amendments to its Communiqué No. 2010/3 on the Right of Access to Case Files and the Protection of Trade Secrets. These updates introduce key changes that enshrine the TCA's existing operational standards into law. The updated rules confirm that complainants and third parties no longer possess the right to access investigation files. Access is now strictly reserved for the parties under investigation (including those in Phase II reviews). Simultaneously, the TCA has narrowed the scope of documents available for access, clarifying that preliminary materials, such as initial examination or preliminary investigation reports, are considered internal correspondence, thereby definitively excluding them from the right of access unless they contain exculpatory or inculpatory statements. In essence, both amendments effectively codify the TCA's practice of rejecting such access requests and treating preliminary reports as internal, formalising policies already in use and ensuring regulatory clarity moving forward.

Dive into September Case Updates

1. The Board fines Novo for failure to comply with TCA's information request

The Turkish Competition Board (the "Board"), the decision-making body of the TCA, has levied a fine against Novo Holdings (and its group companies), a major player in the industrial enzymes market, for failing to fully satisfy the TCA's information request. Novo was found to have submitted incomplete, contradictory, and misleading information, specifically by failing to provide customer contracts before its merger with Chr. Hansen and presenting inconsistent data on its subsidiaries' sales in Türkiye. The Board rejected Novo's defence by underscoring that assets and liabilities legally transfer during a merger, which meant Novo had the responsibility to provide the required pre-merger information. For details on how the Board handles failure to comply with information requests, read our full article here.

2. Poultry market shake-up: TCA imposes significant fines and behavioural remedies

The TCA has once again turned its attention to the poultry sector, a market that it has investigated repeatedly in previous years.¹ With this latest decision, the Board imposed a total administrative fine of TRY 2.7 billion (approx. EUR 54.7 million) on eight undertakings for allegedly sharing competitively sensitive information.² The probe focused on allegations of exchanging competitively sensitive information to restrict competition.

Previously, five undertakings party to the same investigation had accepted their infringements and settled with the TCA.³ Taken together, the total fines imposed in the poultry sector for information exchange amounted to TRY 3.7 billion (approx. EUR 75.7 million).

In addition to the administrative fines, the Board imposed sector-specific behavioural remedies aimed at preventing future anti-competitive conduct. Specifically, undertakings operating as producers or suppliers in the poultry market are now required to:

• apply updated sales prices (price lists) immediately upon communicating them to their buyers, including resellers; and
• cease the practice of issuing forward-dated price lists.

3. Board grants individual exemption for cooperation in the health insurance sector

The Board has granted an individual exemption for framework agreements signed between Eureko Insurance, Bupa Acıbadem Insurance, and Garanti BBVA Pension in the context of a planned cooperation concerning health insurance products.⁴ The exemption is conditional on amending non-compete and active sales restrictions in the Kotpar Reinsurance and Closed Coinsurance Agreements so that they are limited to the duration of the agreements, which run until 21 June 2027.

The agreements subject to the exemption cover cooperation in co-insurance, reinsurance, and operational services for health insurance products. Under this cooperation model, no single agreement involved all three undertakings; rather, participation was structured through multiple bilateral agreements. The Board assessed the agreements as horizontal cooperation arrangements, as the cooperation involved operational and technical infrastructure use, joint product development, and other collaborative activities in the same market.

These agreements contain active sales bans, exclusivity clauses, and non-compete obligations. In two agreements, these restrictions are limited to the 5.5-year term of the agreements, while in one agreement these restrictions were originally indefinite. The Board granted an individual exemption to the agreements in question, with a caveat that the indefinite non-compete and active sales restrictions in the third agreement should be amended to be limited to the agreement's duration. The Board's reasoning was as follows:

• the cooperation enhances the efficiency of services provided, meeting the first exemption criterion of economic or technical progress;
• the cooperation delivers consumer benefits, including an expanded network of contracted institutions, improved products, faster service, and increased market participation;
• two parties have low market shares, strong competitors exist, the market remains dynamic, distribution is accessible, and the parties will continue competing post-cooperation; and
• the restrictions in two agreements are limited to the agreement term and do not affect the post-agreement period, while the indefinite non-compete and active sales restrictions in the third agreement should be amended to be limited to the agreement's duration.

4. Exclusivity concerns in TV production and broadcasting market resolved through commitments

The TCA concluded its investigation into alleged competition law violations by OGM Production, active in the production of creative content such as television series and films, and Star TV, operating in national television broadcasting.⁵ The probe focused on a long-term production and broadcasting agreement containing mutual exclusivity clauses, which allegedly restricted competition in the sector.

As a result of the commitments package offered, the exclusivity clauses in the Exclusive Production and Broadcasting Cooperation Agreement between OGM and Star TV will be terminated. Under the commitments:

• OGM will be free to produce content for channels or platforms other than Star TV; and
• Star TV will be allowed to enter into agreements with other producers for prime-time series content.

5. Competition probes in the ready-mix concrete sector continue at pace

The TCA has concluded its investigation into three ready-mix concrete producers operating in Keşan, in the Edirne province in northwestern Türkiye, regarding allegations of price fixing, customer allocation, and/or exchanging competitively sensitive information.⁶ All undertakings involved opted for settlement, acknowledging the allegations. As a result, the Board imposed a total administrative fine of TRY 10.2 million (approx. EUR 208,000).

6. Pure Organic fined for resale price maintenance

The TCA has concluded its investigation into Pure Organic, an undertaking operating in the sale and distribution of organic flour, regarding allegations of maintaining resale prices for its resellers. Pure Organic acknowledged the allegations and settled with the TCA.⁷

Notably, the base fine rate applied to Pure Organic was reduced by 90% due to mitigating factors. While the specific nature of the mitigating factor is not disclosed in the decision, the size of the reduction is particularly striking and highlights the Board's discretion in adjusting fines based on cooperation or other considerations.

New Investigations and Oral Hearings Announced

New Investigations:

• Spotify under investigation:⁸ Following its preliminary investigation announced in July, the TCA has opened a full-fledged investigation into the audio streaming platform Spotify. The probe will assess whether Spotify engages in discriminatory practices among rights holders of musical works regarding playlist inclusion, ranking, visibility, and recommendation algorithms, and whether its subscription pricing in Türkiye amounts to predatory pricing that could hinder competitors and/or rights holders who rely on subscription revenues for royalty income.
• Dairy sector probe and interim measures:⁹ The TCA has launched an investigation into 39 undertakings active in the production and sale of milk and dairy products for allegedly pressuring dairy farms through a "milk-for-feed" practice, thereby restricting competition. The TCA has imposed interim measures until the investigation is concluded prohibiting quantitative and/or brand restriction on producers and requiring undertakings to periodically submit detailed invoices on milk purchases and feed sales. These measures must also be effectively communicated to raw milk producers, either directly or via intermediaries such as cooperatives and unions.
• Meal card sector faces competition probe:¹⁰ The TCA has opened an investigation into meal card operators Pluxee, Multinet, Setcard, and Edenred. The probe will examine allegations of bid-rigging, customer allocation, and exchange of competitively sensitive information. This is not the first time the meal card sector has come under scrutiny; similar practices have previously been subject to TCA investigations.¹¹
• Comprehensive competition probe in the ready-mix concrete sector in Siirt:¹² The TCA has opened an investigation into four undertakings operating in the ready-mix concrete sector in the province of Siirt in southeastern Türkiye. The probe will examine allegations of fixing sales prices, controlling aggregate supply, coordinating employee salaries, and entering into no-poaching agreements.

Oral Hearings:

• Novo industrial enzymes investigation: An oral hearing will be held on 21 October 2025 for Novo Holdings and its group companiesregarding whether they abused their dominant position in the industrial enzymes market.
• EMT Electronics and MSAB investigation: An oral hearing will be held on 14 October 2025 for EMT Electronics, active in the digital forensics, information security, and e-discovery solutions sectors, and MSAB, a global player in digital forensic technology for mobile device examination and analysis, regarding whether they infringed competition.

Stay tuned for our next issue of Quick Read, where we will continue to bring you the latest in competition law developments in Türkiye.

Footnotes

1 Poultry Sector – II (13.03.2019, 19-12/155-70), Poultry Sector – I (25.11.2009, 09-57/1393-362).

2 Poultry Sector – III (18.09.2025, 25-35/837-492).

3 Bolez (20.12.2024, 24-54/1225-523), Beypiliç (21.05.2024, 24-23/529-223), Şenpiliç (21.05.2024, 24-23/529-222), Lezita (09.05.2024, 24-22/500-211), Keskinoğlu (03.05.2024, 24-21/488-208).

4 Health Insurance Individual Exemption (26.06.2025, 25-23/582-368).

5 OGM – Star TV (28.08.2025).

6 Keşan Ready-Mixed Concrete Producers (20.03.2025, 25-11/252-131).

7 Pure Organic (22.05.2025, 25-20/477-224).

8 Spotify (28.08.2025, 25-32/758-M).

9 Dairy Sector (04.09.2025, 25-31/718-M).

10 Meal Card Sector (14.08.2025, 25-31/725-M).

11 Meal Card Sector – I (15.11.2018, 18-43/694-339).

12 Siirt Ready-Mixed Concrete Producers (29.08.2025, 25-32/754-M).

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.