The Fair Trade Commission plans to raise the maximum fine imposed on companies that violate the Antimonopoly Law from 100 million yen to between 300 million yen and 500 million yen, FTC sources said Tuesday.
The commission will submit an amendment to the Antimonopoly Law at next year's ordinary session of the Diet, the sources said.
The increase is intended to force companies to comply with the law as the government moves to further ease regulations to promote competition, they said.
"The maximum fine is currently insufficient to punish corporate violators," an FTC source said.
The tougher penalty is targeted specifically at bid-rigging and at price cartels, the sources said.
The maximum fine for companies was raised to 100 million yen from 5 million yen in 1992.
It is significantly lower in Japan than in the United States, where the maximum fine is $10 million, roughly 1.2 billion yen.