Fines: procedure and payment
If ACM has established a violation, it can impose a fine on the business as well as on the individual(s) who gave instructions for the violation, or played a leading role in it. If you are fined, you must pay the fine on time. You can file an objection or an appeal against a fine.
On this page:
Procedure
If we suspect a violation was committed, our enforcement officers can decide to launch an investigation. The findings of this investigation can be recorded in a statement of objections. This statement of objections is handed over to ACM’s Legal Department (JZ). On the basis thereof, the Legal Department will advise the Board of ACM on whether or not a fine should be imposed, and, if so, what the amount of the fine should be. The Legal Department itself does not conduct a further investigation.
Before the Legal Department formulates its recommendations for the Board of ACM, the violator (or their lawyer) is given the opportunity to express their opinion orally or in writing. The Legal Department will include this opinion in its recommendations. If the Board of ACM does impose a fine, it does so through a fining decision. A public version of the fining decision will be published on ACM's website.
If you were fined, you may wish to seek legal advice.
Amount of the fine
A fine can be as much as 900,000 euros per violation or 10 percent of the affected turnover. The amount depends on the seriousness and the duration of the violation and on the specific circumstances of the case. The fine has to be proportional to the violation and have a sufficiently deterrent effect, not just on the violator, but also on other businesses.
The fines go to the treasury. The Dutch government uses these public funds to pay for schools, roads, and hospitals, for example.
Disagreement with the fine
If you disagree with an imposed fine, you can take the following steps:
Filing an objection
You file an objection against a fining decision within 6 weeks after it was sent. The objection procedure starts if you (or your lawyer) files a notice of objection. In it, you indicate what your objections are against the fine. You must sign the notice of objection, and it must contain the following information:
- your name and address;
- the date of the notice of objection;
- a description of the decision against which you are filing the objection;
- the grounds for the objection.
The Legal Department will then process the objection. Interested parties are given the opportunity to be heard at a hearing. The Board of ACM subsequently decides if the objection is admissible or inadmissible, or in other words, if the objection is allowed or not allowed.
Filing an appeal
Do you disagree with the Board of ACM’s decision on the objection? If so, you can file an appeal against that decision. You can do so with the District Court of Rotterdam.
Filing an appeal with a higher court
Do you disagree with the ruling of the District Court of Rotterdam? If so, you can file an appeal with a higher court. You can do this with the Dutch Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal (CBb), which is the highest court of appeal in the Netherlands for such matters. The Board of ACM can also file an appeal with the CBb.
Preliminary injunction
If you seek to halt publication of the fine, you can apply for a preliminary injunction with the court.
Pay the fine on time
Has ACM imposed an administrative fine on you or your company? If so, it is important that you pay your fine on time. If you do not pay the fine on time, you may face additional charges.
When you must pay the fine
You must pay the fine within 6 weeks. Have you filed an objection against the fine or have you filed an appeal with the court? If so, you must pay the fine within 24 weeks after the fining decision was sent. Do we hand down the decision on your objection before 24 weeks have passed? If so, you must pay the fine on the day that we send you this decision.
If you have not paid on time
If you do not pay the fine on time, you are considered to be in default. As a consequence, you will also have to pay statutory interest (in Dutch). This means you will incur additional charges. Therefore, pay the fine on time.
If you do not pay the fine on time, we will have to collect the fine. You will receive a demand for payment in which you are given 10 additional working days to make the payment. You will have to pay the statutory interest over the days that you have not paid. Do you still neglect to pay the fine? If so, we will issue an injunction against you. For example, ACM could seize your bank account or immovable property (real estate). In that case, you will also have to pay collection and enforcement costs in addition to the outstanding fine and statutory interest.
Problems with paying the fine
Are you unable to pay a fine? If so, you can request ACM to lower the fine or you can request a payment plan.
Lower fine if you are unable to pay
Are you unable to pay the fine because of limited financial strength? If so, you can ask ACM to lower the fine by filling out this financial-strength form. Please substantiate your request with financial documents. Please fill out the form as completely as possible, and include all of the relevant information. ACM needs this information in order to be able to assess your request.
Payment plans
Are you unable to pay the total fine in one go? If so, you can request a payment plan.
We do not grant deferment of payment until all proceedings against any penalty decisions have been completed. A payment plan starts with the payment of that part of the fine that you can afford to pay at once. At that time, you will pay a minimum amount of 10 percent of the fine. You will subsequently pay the remainder of the fine and the statutory interest in installments. You have to pay the total fine within two years, at the most.
You can file a request for a payment plan by filling out the form below. Please substantiate your request with financial documents. Please send the completed form to the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets, Legal Department, PO box 16326, 2500 BH, The Hague, the Netherlands. After ACM has reviewed your request, you will receive a decision from ACM stating the period within which you have to pay the fine. Please be aware that you will have to pay any statutory interest during this payment period.
Short-term payment plans
If you are able to pay the fine within a period of 1 year, you can request a short-term payment plan. ACM will agree to any reasonable proposal where a fine will be paid in full within a period of 1 year. Please use the following form:
Longer-term payment plans
If you are unable to pay the fine within the period of one year, you can request a slightly longer plan. Please use this form:
Only if you fill out the form in its entirety and provide all the requested information can ACM properly assess your request.
Disagreement with the payment plan
You are able to object to the decision that ACM has taken in response to your request for a payment plan. Please submit your objection to the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets, Legal Department, PO box 16326, 2500 BH, The Hague, the Netherlands. If you disagree with the fine itself, you will need to file a separate objection.
Your objection will not suspend your current payment obligations. For example, if your payment plan with ACM states that you must pay 40% of the fine on May 1, you are still required to do so, and ACM will be able to proceed with collection. At that point, the only way to prevent this is by requesting a preliminary injunction from the administrative court. The administrative court will then decide whether you must comply with your payment obligation.
Questions about the payment plan
If you have any questions concerning payment plans, please contact ACM's finance and control department by phone: +31-70-722-2000.