1 / 8Competition Commission of India (CCI), the antitrust watchdog imposed penalties on five tyre manufacturers and a tyre makers' association for indulging in cartelisation on wednesday. The CCI imposed a penalty of Rs 425.53 crore on Apollo Tyres, Rs 622.09 crore on MRF, Rs 252.16 crore on CEAT, Rs 309.95 crore on JK Tyre, and Rs 178.33 crore on Birla Tyres and told them to cease and desist from unfair business practices. It also slapped a fine of Rs 8.4 lakh on Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA). However, this is not the first time that the CCI has taken such a bold step. Here is a look at some popular cases where the watchdog imposed penalties.
2 / 8The BCCI was slapped with Rs 52.2 crore fine, by the CCI in 2013 for misusing its position. The watchdog found that not only were IPL team ownership agreements unfair but were unjustly in favour of the BCCI. (Image: PTI)
3 / 8In 2014, the commission slapped a fine of Rs 2,545 crore on 14 car manufacturers for failing to sell spare parts in the open market. The manufacturers that were penalised included Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen, Fiat, Ford, General Motors, Nissan, Hindustan Motors, Mercedes, and Skoda. However, this was not the last time that the watchdog took action against auto giants. Last August, the CCI slapped a fine of Rs 200 crore on Maruti Suzuki over dealer discount policy.
4 / 8In 2014, the CCI imposed a fine of Rs 1 crore on Google for failure to comply with the directions given by the Director-General seeking information and documents. The order was passed on a reference made by the DG to CCI alleging inter alia non-cooperation by Google. The DG was investigating the information filed by Matrimony.com Private Limited and Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS) against Google for alleged abuse of market power. Later in 2018, Google's parent company Alphabet was penalised over Rs 135 crore for search bias.
5 / 8The CCI imposed a fine of Rs 258 crore in 2015 on Jet Airways, IndiGo, and SpiceJet for cartelisation in fixing fuel surcharge for transporting cargo. (Image: Reuters)
6 / 8In 2021, the CCI imposed a fine of Rs 6,307.32 crore on top-10 cement companies in the country along with the industry body Cement Manufacturers’ Association (CMA). The watchdog alleged that the companies worked as cartels, fixed prices, and curbed supply to increase their profit.
7 / 8In September, the CCI imposed penalties totalling over Rs 873 crore on United Breweries Ltd, Carlsberg India, All India Brewers' Association (AIBA), and 11 individuals for cartelisation in the sale and supply of beer. However, the NCLAT, in December, imposed a stay on the CCI order.
8 / 8Last December, the CCI suspended the approval for the Amazon-Future deal and also imposed a Rs 202 crore penalty on Amazon. As per the CCI order, which came after the watchdog heard the complaint by Future Coupon seeking revocation of its nod to Amazon's investment, the penalty imposed on Amazon was for providing false information and suppressing material particulars.
