The Fair Trade Commission on Tuesday conducted an on-site inspection of Tokyo-based home appliance sales company Hashimoto Sogyo on suspicion of non-payment of overtime to entrusted transportation companies, informed sources said.
The anti-monopoly law prohibits abuse of a shipper’s dominant position over an operator. This is the first inspection that the committee has carried out on this scheme.
Japan’s transportation sector is facing a driver shortage due to an overtime limit introduced in April, which has been dubbed the 2024 problem. The inspection may have consequences for the relationships between shippers and operators.
According to sources, Hashimoto Sogyo allegedly failed to pay overtime compensation to operators to whom the company had outsourced shipping and loading operations when it sold housing equipment wholesale to retailers. The company is also suspected of reducing payments to entrusted operators by several percent in the name of discounts.
Founded in April 2015, Hashimoto Sogyo has a capitalization of ยฅ101 million ($642,000) and sales in the fiscal year to March 2023 totaled about ยฅ135.2 billion, according to the company’s website.
The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hashimoto Sogyo Holdings, listed on the Standard section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
