CCI penalises HP India and authorised resellers for bid rigging and cartelisation in Government e-Marketplace tenders
The Commission held that an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), even though not itself participating as a bidder in public procurement, can incur liability under Section 3(3) read with Section 3(1) of the Competition Act, 2002 where it actively facilitates coordination amongst competing downstream resellers through exchange of commercially sensitive information, selective issuance of Manufacturer Authorisation Forms (MAFs), allocation of customers, coordination of bids and arrangement of cover bids. The Commission further held that the conduct of HP India and the resellers amounted to a contravention of the provisions relating to anti-competitive agreements and bid rigging under the Act.