Submitting a request for information
You can submit a request for information to the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (FCCA).
Content of the request for information
Try to describe your request as accurately as possible.
If necessary, we will help you identify the document from which information is requested. The more accurately we can target your request to a particular document, the faster we can provide information about it.
The following information, for example, can expedite the processing of a request for information:
- to which agency’s task or unit the information is related
- the company’s name
- subject matter of the request
- the time period for which you want the information
- is it a FCCA decision / publication / statement (for documents, when the document was sent to the FCCA or from the FCCA).
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- I request the documents / contacts received by the FCCA concerning company x from the time period between xx Month and xx Month, including notifications received by The Consumer Advisory Services and the Consumer Ombudsman.
- I saw a press release on your website, I request the correspondence concerning the company in question, company x.
- I request the information on how many contacts have been made about companies in a specific sector, an example sector, between the time period from x Month and x Month.
- I request the following information: regarding which companies you have received most contacts / notifications this year, a top 20 list.
- I kindly request you send register transcripts that include all public cases from the competition sector opened and closed since X MONTH XXXX by email (restrictions of competition, competitive neutrality and public procurement).
- I work at Law Firm XXXXXXXXX. For carrying out my work tasks, I would like to request information on whether company X (business ID XXXXXXX-x) has pending matters at the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority or has had open matters in the past three years.
- I got the impression from the media that the FCCA has made a decision by which the municipality XXXXX has been a granted a privilege not to form a limited liability company for XXXXXXXX. I kindly ask you to provide the FCCA’s decision or any other documents concerning the FCCA’s correspondence with the municipality XXXXXXXXX concerning XXXXXXXX’s corporatisation and operation in the market.
From who should I request information?
Use one of the following methods to submit your request for information:
- By email to kirjaamo@kkv.fi
- If your message contains confidential information, use the FCCA’s secure mail https://turvaviesti.kkv.fi, the recipient is kirjaamo@kkv.fi
- By letter to the address Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority, P.O. Box 5, 00531 Helsinki
- You can also submit a request for information by phone to, for example, the person processing the matter (Consumer Advisory Services).
If the information you request requires verification of your identity, we will contact you.
Information on the person submitting the request for information
If you request public information, you do not need to verify your identity. However, we must have some way of contacting you.
If the material you request contains more than a small amount of personal data, and you do not request it for private purposes, we must ensure the legality of the processing of personal data. To do this, you must
- indicate the basis for the processing of personal data and
- state who processes the personal data.
Note that the use of the personal data you receive is always your responsibility.
What can I request?
The request for information concerns information that the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority is in possession of.
The information must be in a document prepared by an authority or submitted to an authority for the processing of a matter or regarding a matter otherwise within its field of competence. Such documents are called official documents.
Public documents
In the law, official documents have been provided with a point in time when they can be delivered upon request, that is, when they enter the public domain. Before this, delivering information about them is at the discretion of the authority.
Everyone can receive information concerning public documents. For example, a decision is public when it has been signed, and a study enters the public domain when it is fit for its purpose.
Information concerning a party
If the matter concerns your right, interest or obligation, you may also be granted access to the content of a document other than a public document if it may or may have influenced the processing of your matter. This is called the right of a party to obtain information.
Secrecy
The publicity of official documents is restricted by the grounds for secrecy laid down in the Act on the Openness of Government Activities or elsewhere in the law.
- If an official document contains secret information, the information is deleted before access to the document is granted.
- If the document is no longer readable or can be misunderstood after the deletion of the information, access to the document will not be granted at all.
- An official document may also be kept completely secret.
You can also obtain an authority’s permission for gaining access to secret information in certain cases, such as in scientific studies. The Act on the Openness of Government Activities contains more detailed provisions on the official permission to gain access to a secret information. The permissions are at the discretion of the authority.
Delivering information may be subject to a fee
Responses to requests for information are usually free if email is used to send a public document or a document based on the right of a party to obtain information. In addition, providing the document for reading and copying at the office of the authority is free.
Access to information on a document may be subject to a fee if, for example, it is not possible to identify the document through the identification data in the documents specifically used by the FCCA or commonly used by the authorities.
Creating a new document may also be subject to a fee.
We will always tell you in advance if obtaining information is subject to a fee.
When the request for information is received by the FCCA, we will assess the workload of obtaining and delivering the information. This assessment will be presented to you in a confirmation request asking you to confirm whether you want the information regardless of the fee. The confirmation is required so that the information can be delivered.
- Note. The information cannot be delivered until the FCCA has received confirmation that you want the information regardless of the fee.
- The costs of obtaining the information and/or the deletion of the secret parts are charged according to this price list: €35.00 per half an hour or part thereof + processing and invoicing fee €10.00 + VAT.
Methods for gaining access to a document
You can receive information from a document
- by email.
- by phone when appropriate.
- by retrieving a printout or a copy from the FCCA. Note that a fee is charged for providing a copy or a printout.
- by consulting the document at the agency.
Processing times
Information on a public document is provided as soon as possible, usually within two weeks of the FCCA receiving the request for information. The deadline starts when the FCCA has the necessary information to obtain the requested information.
If the number of requested documents is high, the documents contain secret parts or the processing and resolution of the matter for some other reason requires special measures, the matter will be resolved no later than one month after the FCCA has received the request for information.