Quito, February 9, 2026 — The Superintendencia de Competencia Económica (SCE) of Ecuador has imposed more than $2.2 million in fines and corrective measures on economic operators active in the market for driving courses in the Metropolitan District of Quito, after finding that they engaged in price-fixing that restricted competition.
According to the authority, the sanctioned operators participated in anticompetitive conduct that affected the normal functioning of the market, following a technical and exhaustive investigation carried out in line with due process guarantees.
The SCE determined that the operators fixed prices and exchanged commercially sensitive information, conduct that the authority said limited free competition, reduced the options available to users, and directly harmed citizens seeking access to driving instruction services.
In its decision, the authority stressed that such practices constitute serious infringements because of their direct and significant impact on consumer welfare, particularly in markets that provide essential services to the public.
The SCE said its action is grounded in Article 335 of Ecuador’s Constitution, which grants the State the power to regulate, control, and intervene in markets in order to prevent, correct, and sanction abuses of market power and distortions to competition. That constitutional mandate is further developed in the Organic Law on the Regulation and Control of Market Power, which classifies restrictive agreements and practices between competitors as very serious infringements.
The authority noted that coordination between competitors through price-setting and information exchange undermines competitive market dynamics by artificially influencing market outcomes and limiting consumer choice.
In addition to the pecuniary sanctions, the SCE imposed corrective measures aimed at restoring competitive conditions in the affected market.
The authority reiterated its ongoing commitment to monitoring market conduct, promoting economic efficiency and fairness, and exercising its legal powers in a timely and lawful manner whenever conduct threatens free competition, to the detriment of consumers and Ecuadorian families.
