Competition Commission of India (CCI): CCI has dismissed a complaint filed against Kent RO Systems, alleging unfair business practices with respect to sale of spare parts and services/maintenance of Kent RO water purifier systems. The Informant alleged that Kent RO Systems being a dominant player had through contracts limited the access of independent repairers and other multi-brand service providers to genuine spare parts required to effectively compete with the authorised dealers of the company. It was also alleged that by charging exorbitant price for its spare parts and after sales service, Kent RO Systems has charged a price which is unrelated to the “economic value” of the product, which in absence of the dominance that it currently enjoys in the relevant market could not have been otherwise charged. After perusal of documents, CCI observed that no case of contravention of the provisions of the Competition Act has been made out against Kent RO Systems in the matter. CCI observed that the allegations of the informant regarding non-availability of the spare parts of Kent RO water purifier systems in the market are proved false as the spare parts can be purchased online by the customers. While noting that the informant failed to adduce a single document or any pricing data to support the assertion that the prices charged by Kent RO Systems are “exorbitant” and “unusually high”, CCI dismissed the information. (Amitabh v. Kent RO Systems, 2015 CCI 4, decided on February 26, 2015)
Complaint filed against Kent RO Systems alleging unfair trade practices, dismissed
