BRUSSELS, June 11 (Reuters) - Deutsche Telekom

on Tuesday won a legal fight to get EU antitrust

regulators to pay interest on the portion of a fine reimbursed

following an appeal, in what could be good news for a similar

593-million-euro ($638.3 million) claim by Intel ( INTC ).

A score of companies have in recent years sued competition

enforcers for default interest on fines in annulled antitrust

cases, with the claims totalling about 800 million euros. Intel ( INTC )

is the highest profile case.

The Commission imposed a 31 million euro fine on Deutsche

Telekom in 2014 for charging unfair wholesale prices in

Slovakia. A lower tribunal cut the penalty to 19 million euros

and ordered the Commission to pay some 1.8 million euros in

interest.

The EU competition enforcer subsequently repaid the

difference to Deutsche Telekom, but not the interest for the

period between the payment and the reimbursement.

The Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union

(CJEU) sided with the German telecoms operator.

"The (European) Commission must pay interest on fines it has

unduly imposed in competition matters and which it has

provisionally collected," judges said.

"That interest is intended to compensate, at a standard

rate, the undertaking concerned for the loss of enjoyment of the

amount in question," they said.

The CJEU said the lower tribunal was right to hold that the

applicable interest rate which the Commission is required to pay

to Deutsche Telekom is the European Central Bank (ECB)

refinancing rate increased by 3.5 percentage points.

Intel's ( INTC ) claim for 593 million euros in interest is on a

reimbursed fine of 1.06 billion euros from a case overturned in

2022. A number of airlines fined for taking part in an air cargo

cartel are also seeking interest for their annulled fines.

The ruling is final and cannot be appealed.

The case is C-221/22 P Commission v Deutsche Telekom.

($1 = 0.9290 euros)