The Japan Fair Trade Commission plans to order Central Japan Railway, or JR Central, and five other firms to stop rigging bids for overpass inspection work, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
The six companies have colluded to predetermine winners of contracts for inspecting overpasses over railways run by JR Central at least since February 2021, the people said.
JR Central was not directly involved in the bidding process, but played a role in determining contract winners by coordinating with the other five companies, the people said.
The JFTC plans to impose a fine of some ¥100 million in total on five firms except JR Central. The five include JR Central Consultants, Dainichi Consultant, Tonichi Engineering Consultants and Japan Transportation Consultants.
The move comes after the JFTC conducted on-site inspections of JR Central and others in October last year.
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