Jul 20 (NHK) - Officials at the Japan Fair Trade Commission are investigating major department stores in Osaka. They suspect the firms colluded on increasing delivery fees.
The stores include Takashimaya, Daimaru Matsuzakaya, Sogo & Seibu, Hankyu Hanshin and Kintetsu.
Sources say the department stores allegedly agreed to increase delivery charges for mid-summer and year-end gifts by the same amount.
Authorities say the stores raised nationwide shipping charges for mid-summer gifts last year by about 90 cents to about 2 dollars and 70 cents.
They also allegedly raised charges for sending commodities to western Japan and to Tokyo by about 45 cents to around 3 dollars and 10 cents between 2015 and 2016.
Source: ANNnewsCH