135 COMPETITION LAW In the event that an on-site inspection is hindered or likely to be hindered, it will be performed by order of a magistrate’s court judge. However, the fact that an on-site inspection has been performed pursuant to a magistrate’s court judge’s decision will not prevent the application of an administrative fine. Fines for hindering or complicating on-site inspections are regulated by Article 16 of Law No. 4054. As per the relevant article, the administrative monetary fine shall be applied by 0,05% of the annual gross revenue of the relevant undertaking in the financial year preceding the decision. If such cannot be calculated, the undertaking will be fined 0,05% of the annual gross revenue generated by the end of the financial year closest to the date of the decision to be determined by the Board. Due to increasing digitalization, the Authority published Guidelines on the Examination of Digital Data During On-Site Inspections (“Guidelines”). The Guidelines authorize case handlers to investigate IT systems that carry information about the inspected undertaking, such as mobile devices, back-up records and cloud services. They also state that case handlers can utilize forensic IT hardware and software during on-site inspections. Forensic IT hardware and software primarily allow the case handlers to restore deleted data. During on-site inspections, it is the duty of the inspected undertaking to prevent any interference with stored data and to protect the integrity of the data. The employees of the inspected undertakings are expected to provide full and active assistance to the case handlers. For instance, providing system administrator privileges, enabling remote access to the e-mail accounts of the employees, isolating computers and servers from the network, limiting the access of users to their corporate accounts, and restoring backed-up corporate data are among the obligations of the employees of the undertakings. Recent Decisions of the Board on Hindrance or Obstruction of On-site Inspections Recently, a significant increase in the number of decisions where the Board found hindrance or obstruction of the on-site inspections
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