Competition Commission Dismisses Allegations of Bid Rigging In Bareilly Nagar Nigam Tender

The Competition Commission of India presided by Mr. Ravneet Kaur, Mr. Anil Agrawal, Ms. Shweta Kakkad and Mr. Deepak Anurag rejected allegations of anti-competitive practices in the tender process of Bareilly Nagar Nigam and found no merit in the bid rigging complaint. Brief Facts of the Case The informant, Mr. Harish Kumar, is engaged in the business of advertisement and publicity. He alleged bid rigging and anti-competitive practices in a tender floated by Bareilly Nagar Nigam...

Competition Commission Dismisses Abuse Of Dominance Complaint Against Indian Rare Earths India Limited

The Competition Commission of India (Commission) bench, comprising Ms. Ravneet Kaur (Chairperson), Ms. Sweta Kakkad (Member), Anil Agrawal (Member) and Mr. Deepak Anurag (Member), has determined that although Indian Rare Earths India Limited (IREL) has dominant position in the mining and sale of Beach Sand Sillimanite market in India, it has not abused the dominant position. Submissions of Informant The Informant mentioned that Sillimanite which is produced from beach sand, comes in...

Jurisdiction Of Competition Commission Not Excluded Merely Because Actionable Info Relates To A Patent: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that the jurisdiction of Competition Commission of India is not ousted merely because the information on which it seeks to initiate an enquiry relates to a patent.A single bench of Justice Yashwant Varma held that so long as the CCI is duly and statutorily empowered to deal with all information which it may receive with respect to actions that may (i) impede competition, (ii) usher in an anti-competitive environment, (iii) relate to abuse of dominant position or...

Leniency Regime In India

A leniency programme is a type of whistleblower protection, i.e., an official system of providing leniency to a cartel member who reports the cartel to the Commission. In exchange for immunity or lenient treatment, competition authorities have devised a variety of leniency programmes to encourage and incentivize various actors involved in the commission of such competition infringements to come forward and disclose such anticompetitive agreements and assist the competition authorities. The...

CCI's Investigation Against Debenture Trustee's Unit Of Banks – A Case Of Concurrent Jurisdiction

The Competition Commission of India's (CCI) recent investigation into the Trustee Association of India (TAI) and debenture trustee units of State Bank of India, Axis Bank and IDBI Bank for collusion in respect of charging high fees for issuing debt and due-diligence checks has raised jurisdictional conflicts over the sectoral regulator -SEBI, and the market regulator - CCI. The CCI, in its prima facie confidential order, noted that the TAI and SBICAP Trustee Company Ltd, Axis Trustee...

Antitrust Enforcement In Digital Markets: CCI On Interim Reliefs

Recently, the Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF), a Delhi-based think tank with members from India's start-ups and entrepreneurs, filed a petition with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) seeking interim relief against Google's policy of collecting commission on payments made on Playstore apps, which takes effect in March 2022. The CCI has the authority to grant interim relief under section 33 of the Competition Act, 2002 (the Act). The Act's ability to give interim...

Antitrust Enforcement In Digital Markets: CCI On Interim Reliefs

Recently, the Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF), a Delhi-based think tank with members from India's start-ups and entrepreneurs, filed a petition with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) seeking interim relief against Google's policy of collecting commission on payments made on Playstore apps, which takes effect in March 2022. The CCI has the authority to grant interim relief under section 33 of the Competition Act, 2002 (the Act). The Act's ability to give interim...

CCI Orders Probe Into WhatsApp's New Privacy Policy; Finds Prima Facie 'Abuse Of Dominance'

In a significant development, the Competition Commission of India on Wednesday ordered a probe into the new privacy policy of WhatsApp, after making a prima facie observation that it was violative of the Competition Act 2000."..the Commission is of the considered opinion that WhatsApp has prima facie contravened the provisions of Section 4 of the Act through its exploitative and exclusionary conduct, in the garb of policy update", said the order passed by the CCI.The CCI observed that...

Supreme Court Requires States/UTs To Furnish Details Of Financial Stability Of Parents/Guardians Of Children 'Restored' In Pandemic

In the wake of the risks of trafficking etc, the Supreme Court on Monday required the state governments/Union Territories to provide information in 2 weeks about the financial stability of the families of those children who were restored to their parents/guardians from the Child Care Institutions on account of the COVID situation.The bench headed by Justice L. Nageswara Rao noted that in view of the improving situation relating to the pandemic, some states have reopened schools. On account of...

CCI, SEBI Approval to Reliance-FRL Deal Disregards Law: Amazon Tells Delhi High Court

Seeking an interim injunction against the Reliance - Future Retail Ltd stake sale deal worth Rs. 24,000 crore, Amazon today submitted before the Delhi High Court, that FRL had urged authorities like SEBI and CCI to disregard the award, and by giving their approvals to the deal, they had disregarded the law indeed.The court directed both parties to file a 5 page note with relevant portions of judgement and other details by 5.30 pm today and posted the case for further hearing tomorrow.Amazon...

Will The CCI's Market Study On Private Equity Investments Provide Clarity For Minority Investments?

In light of the growing trend of private equity ("PE") firms acquiring minority stakes in multiple firms in the same sector, the Chairperson of the Competition Commission of India (the "CCI") has recently announced that the CCI proposes to conduct a market study to analyse the incentives and rights associated with such minority investments, and its impact on competition in India. This concern was first highlighted by the CCI in Meru v. Ola/Uber[2] in June 2018, where the CCI examined ...

Children To Be Restored From Children Homes To Parents/Guardians Only After Individual Assessment As Per Juvenile Justice Act : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed that restoration of children from children homes to parents/guardians only after individual assessment under Section 40(3) of the Juvenile Justice Act 2015.As per Section 40(3), suitability and fitness of the parents/guardians have to be ascertained by the Child Welfare Committee before restoring children to them. A Bench headed by Justice L. Nageswara Rao recorded Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta's submission that the directions issued by the National ...