Transporting bodies was not recognized as a business

Oleg Shelyagov’s Ritual-Service CJSC, operating in Moscow, accuses the largest player in the segment, the State Budgetary Institution Ritual, controlled by the Moscow City Hall, of having priority access to information about the deceased and imposing burial services on their relatives. Neither the antimonopoly service nor the court agreed with this. Lawyers admit that if Ritual-Service, which has already lost in the appeal court, decides to litigate further, it will be very difficult for the company to defend its position.

As Kommersant discovered, on December 19, the appellate court supported the decision of the Moscow Arbitration Court in the case of Ritual-Service CJSC against the Moscow department of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (UFAS). Previously, the court refused the ritual company’s request to recognize the decision of the Federal Antimonopoly Service to refuse to initiate a case for violation of antimonopoly legislation in relation to the State Budgetary Institution “Ritual”, controlled by the Moscow mayor’s office. These companies did not respond to Kommersant.

From the court materials it follows that Ritual-Service applied to the Moscow OFAS with a statement regarding the State Budgetary Institution Ritual back in April 2023. The plaintiff considered that the company’s rights were infringed “due to unfair competition on the part of the State Budgetary Institution “Ritual”,” which allegedly received “unfounded advantages” by receiving priority access to information about the facts of people’s deaths. This, the plaintiff insists, gives the State Budgetary Institution the opportunity to have a preemptive right to provide funeral services. In addition, Ritual-Service indicated in court that the State Budgetary Institution, on a state contract with the mayor’s office, carries out free transportation of the bodies of the deceased from the place of their death to morgues. This position of the State Budgetary Institution allows it to “impose services on the relatives of the deceased,” the plaintiff believes.

However, the OFAS did not find confirmation of any of the stated facts. Although the department admitted that information about the dead is received by the State Budgetary Institution “Ritual”, including by redirecting citizens’ calls to a single number 112. A Kommersant source close to Ritual-Service reported that the company intends to defend its position in higher authorities authorities The Moscow OFAS told Kommersant that if the applicant decides to appeal to the cassation authority, the service will provide judicial protection.

In fact, the claims of “Ritual-Service” are justified, but it will be difficult for the company to achieve a result in the courts, since the mayor’s office is entrusted with the work of transporting bodies, as a result of which they receive information about the dead, and this is not considered entrepreneurial activity , explains Vladimir Khantimirov, managing partner of the Asterisk law office. State Budgetary Institution “Ritual” does not act as an independent economic entity, but carries out orders from the authorities, therefore it is more expedient to file claims against the government agency, says Anton Avdeev, a member of the commission on professional qualifications in the field of funeral business of the National Council under the President of the Russian Federation.

This case clearly shows the widespread practice of “legal monopolization” of the funeral services market not only in Moscow, but in all regions of the country, says Oksana Pavlukhina, advisor to the antimonopoly practice of MEF Legal. Publicly available information contains quite a large amount of information about complaints against the actions of the State Budgetary Institution “Ritual”, including those related to abuse of a dominant position, she adds. But at the same time, the lawyer notes, it is impossible to distribute the transportation of the bodies of the dead among several market entities: this will lead to disorganization, possible failure to fulfill obligations and shifting responsibility.

Daria Andrianova