CCI fines Port Owner’s Association and Individuals for Price Fixing
Today’s guest post is from Avinash Amarnath.
India Update 2015 Vol. 2
Trade associations continue to be the flavor of the day in the cartel space in India.
On 21 January 2015, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed a penalty on the Dumper Owner’s Association (DOA), a trade association of dumper and hywa [unloading] machinery providers for intra-port transportation of cargo at Paradip Port and its individual officers for controlling the supply of dumpers and hywas at Paradip Port and fixing supply prices. The trade association was fined 8% of its average turnover (for the last 3 years) while the individual officers were fined 5% of their average income (for the last 3 years).
The complaint was brought by Swastik Stevedores Private Limited (the Informant), a company engaged in the business of stevedoring and intra-port transportation of cargo alleging that the DOA, in connivance with the Paradip Port Trust (PPT), the government authority managing Paradip Port had been refusing to provide dumpers and hywas to it.