| The Antitrust Attorney Blog - By MM Sharma

Competition Commission of India (CCI) to investigate global hybrid seeds giant Monsanto for abuse of dominance in relation to alleged excessive and discriminatory royalties for Bt cotton seeds-

Comment- This CCI order raises an important issue which places the manner of enforcement of intellectual property rights in India vis-à-vis the competition law under question. The CCI order gives a prima facie impression as if the CCI is entering into the domain of fixation of royalties for sub-licensing of Bt. cotton seed patents, but…

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March 11, 2016 Leave a commentAntitrust, News and EventsBy M M SHARMA

Central Government notifies revised thresholds for Merger Control and extends Exemptions

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Govt. of India has made important revisions to the merger control regime in India. The following three Notifications were published in the Gazette of India on March 4, 2016. THRESHOLDS FOR NOTIFICATION REVISED– Through the first Notification, the Central Government has increased thresholds, both assets and turnover, for any transaction…

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March 7, 2016 Leave a commentMergers, News and EventsBy M M SHARMA

CCI directed to reconsider cartel penalty on LPG cylinder manufactures for a second time

COMPAT by its order dated March 01, 2016 has directed CCI to re-consider penalties imposed on the 47 LPG manufactures for big-rigging in procurement of 14.2 KG LPG cylinders in IOCL. As a background to the case, the CCI by its order dated February 24, 2012 had imposed penalty of 7% of the preceding three…

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March 3, 2016 Leave a commentAntitrust, News and EventsBy M M SHARMA

CCI exonerates TAM from allegations of meddling with TRPs to suit private channels and their advertisers –

Comment- In this case, the outcome of which was being watched with interest by the media, though the CCI has held TAM to be a dominant enterprise, which makes it vulnerable to future challenges, but has not found any abuse of the dominant position in the absence of any…

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March 2, 2016 Leave a commentAntitrust, News and EventsBy M M SHARMA

COMPAT upholds order of CCI closing bid-rigging case against railway suppliers of Axle Mounted Disk Braking System (ADBMS)-

Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT) by its order dated February 17, 2016 has upheld the order of CCI closing the case for bid-rigging for supply of Axle Mounted Disk Braking System (ADBMS) to Indian Railways. In the instant case, the investigation related to quoting of identical prices in three emergency purchase tenders by the opposite parties, M/s…

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February 20, 2016 Leave a commentAntitrust, News and EventsBy M M SHARMA

CCI approves acquisition of 49.86% stake in Sabarmati Gas Limited(SGL) by PSU petroleum companies –

CCI, by its order dated February 10, 2016, has approved acquisition of 49.86% stake in SGL by Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Limited (“GSPC”); Gujarat State Petronet Limited (“GSPL”); and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (“BPCL”).The stake proposed to be acquired in currently being held by India Infrastructure Development Fund (“IIDF”), India Infrastructure Fund (“IIF”) and IFCI…

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February 10, 2016 Leave a commentMergers, News and EventsBy M M SHARMA

Beware Pharmaceutical Companies- CCI penalizes Alkem Laboratories Ltd. (ALKEM) for bowing down to pressure of All Kerala Chemists and Druggists Association by stopping supplies to a local chemist

The CCI, vide its recent order dated December 1, 2015, has penalized All Kerala Chemists and Druggists Association(AKCDA) and Alkem Laboratories Limited(ALKEM) for limiting and controlling the supply of medicines in Kerala. The Informant Mr. P. K. Krishnan Proprietor, Vinayaka Pharma, runs a pharmaceutical distribution store in Palakkad, Kerala. It was alleged that Alkem refused to…

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January 31, 2016Antitrust, News and EventsBy M M SHARMA

COMPAT sets-aside penalty imposed on Himachal Pradesh Chemist & Druggist Alliance (HPCDA) on account of failure to observe principles of natural justice during investigation by the DG

COMPAT, by its order dated January 13, 2016, has set-aside the penalty imposed by the CCI on HPCDA and ordered re-investigation into allegations of cartelisation by the HPCDA. The case was filed by Rohit Medical Store against HPCDA alleging that pharmaceutical companies were not appointing stockists in the absence of NOC from HPCDA, charging of…

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January 14, 2016 Leave a commentAntitrust, News and EventsBy M M SHARMA

German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) prohibits the “best value” provisions of Booking.com

In December 2015 the Bundeskartellamt (FCO) prohibited booking.Com Deutschland GmbH from making use of its “best price” clauses and ordered the inn reserving portal to delete the clauses from its contracts and general terms and stipulations latest by 31 January 2016. Under the said provisos, inns were obliged to constantly offer Booking.com their most minimal…

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January 12, 2016 Leave a commentAntitrust, News and Events, OthersBy M M SHARMA

CCI further amends merger regulations on 11th January,2016

As part of its ongoing efforts to make M&A filing requirements simpler and readily acceptable to various stakeholders, CCI has further revised its Combination Regulations today, making them more forward looking,thereby making them further robust and Industry friendly. The Gazette notification was issued on 8th January but published today in the website of the Ministry…

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January 11, 2016 Leave a commentMergersBy M M SHARMA

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