The ultra-Orthodox shopping site is on its way to court: This morning, the Shufersal chain informed investors that a lawsuit in the amount of NIS 150 million was filed against it in the Tel Aviv District Court last Thursday and a request for approval as a class action.
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According to the lawsuit, the chain has been operating a website for the benefit of the ultra-Orthodox public for many years, and sells products at prices that are many percent lower than the price of identical products offered for sale on its website, which is aimed at non-ultra-Orthodox audiences.
According to the applicants, Mehadrin Yashir’s delivery service is available to a large number of ultra-Orthodox and religious localities and is not available at all to nearby secular localities; This is while Shufersal Online’s delivery service is available to seculars in those localities where the seculars are excluded from a direct mehadrin website. Thus, it is argued, the implicit conclusion is the existence of consequential discrimination.
It should be noted that following the public outcry, Shufersal froze the site’s activity.
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Shufersal CEO Itzik Aberkhan at a discussion in the Economics Committee last week
( Photo: Knesset Spokeswoman Noam Moskowitz)
Apart from the class action lawsuit, Shufersal has been facing an investigation by the Competition Authority in recent days, on suspicion of maintaining a restrictive arrangement in the food industry. The investigation became public last Tuesday, when PA investigators raided Shufersal’s offices, confiscated computers and various materials and took the company’s CEO, Itzik Aberkhan, to the PA’s offices for questioning. At the same time, a similar raid was carried out on the offices of Strauss, the second largest food company in Israel, in which materials were collected and the company’s CEO Giora Bar-De’a and other officials were questioned.
The investigation branched out and Noam Weiman, CEO and controlling shareholders of Diplomat, Eyal Ravid, CEO and controlling shareholders of the Victory chain, Rami Levy, CEO and controlling shareholder of the Sycamore Marketing chain, Aryeh Boim of the owners of the Osher Ad chain and at least one senior official were also summoned for questioning. At Unilever.
Michal Cohen, deputy commissioner of the competition, commented on the investigation and said: “We are talking about a criminal investigation, the fruit of strenuous preparation that began before the hearing was scheduled, will be done tomorrow and the day after. I do not intend to say what the suspicions are and what will be investigated. “The investigation.”
Cohen added that the food, consumer products and toiletries market is at the top of the authority’s priorities. “There is no hesitation here and there is a need for rigid and effective enforcement. I am interested in proposing bills to increase competition and I will not hesitate to use all means to increase competition.”
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