(1) The prohibition of agreements restricting competition pursuant to Section 1 does not apply to contracts entered into between companies ensuring public water supply (public water suppliers) and
1. other water suppliers or regional and local authorities, to the extent that in this agreement one of the contracting parties undertakes to refrain from operating as a public water supplier within a certain area using fixed pipelines;
2. regional or local authorities, to the extent that in this agreement a regional or local authority undertakes to permit a single supplier the exclusive installation and operation of pipelines on or under public routes for the purpose of an existing or intended direct water supply to end users in the regional or local authority's territory;
3. water suppliers at distribution level, to the extent that in this agreement a water supplier at distribution level undertakes to supply its customers with water using fixed pipelines at prices or terms and conditions that are not less favourable than the prices or terms and conditions granted by the supplying water supplier to its comparable customers;
4. other water suppliers, to the extent that they are entered into for the purpose of providing certain supply services using fixed pipelines to one or several suppliers with the exclusive purpose of ensuring public water supply.
(2) Agreements under subsection (1), including any changes and amendments, shall be made in writing.
(3) Agreements under subsection (1) or the way in which they are implemented must not constitute an abuse of the market position gained from the exemption from the provisions of this Act.
(4) An abuse shall be deemed to exist in particular if
1. a public water supplier's market conduct is in violation of the principles governing the market conduct of undertakings where effective competition exists; or
2. a public water supplier demands less favourable prices or business terms from its customers than comparable water suppliers, unless the water supplier provides evidence that such deviation is due to differing circumstances not attributable to it; or
3. a public water supplier demands fees that unreasonably exceed the costs; in this context, only costs incurred in the course of efficient business management shall be taken into account.
(5) An abuse does not exist if a public water supplier refuses, in particular for technical or hygienic reasons, to enter into agreements with another undertaking regarding the feeding-in of water to its pipe network and to permit a connected extraction of water (transmission).