CCI Fines HP India ₹140 Cr For Rigging Tenders On GeM Portal
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The Competition Commission of India (CCI) issued a cumulative penalty of ₹138.9 Cr on HP India in two cases of anti-competitive practices and cartelisation of the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) platform.
CCI’s investigation revealed that, in the first case concerning government procurement of personal computer systems, HP was dictating bid prices to its resellers and intentionally withholding necessary authorisations from resellers.
In a second case regarding tenders for printing supplies, such as toners and cartridges, the regulator found that HP was coordinating cover bids among its resellers. This would help some bidders submit artificially high bids so that a pre-selected party can win the tender.
In the first order, the CCI fined HP India ₹126.9 Cr and five of its resellers a combined ₹1.2 Cr.
The five resellers – Delphi Infosolutions, Digitech Computers, Orbit Techsol, Hind Technocare, and Krishna Computers – were found guilty of colluding with HP India to stifle competition for tenders for personal systems.
“The proceedings arose from the lesser penalty application filed by HP India under Section 46 of the Act 19(1)(a) of the Act, alleging cartelisation amongst HP India and its resellers. Based on the evidence on record, the Commission found that HP India was engaged in dictating bid prices to resellers and manipulated participation of resellers in the GeM tenders by withholding authorisation,” CCI’s statement read.
The competition watchdog also imposed another ₹11.98 Cr fine along with a further ₹2.3 Cr on HP and its tier II resellers for rigging bids pertaining to printing supplies.
Further, the CCI directed all the parties to immediately stop such practices and conduct compliance training within 60 days.
Notably, in both cases, HP had voluntarily self-reported on its own illegal activities. Hence, the competition regulator granted the firm leniency under Section 46 of the Competition Act and delivered a lesser penalty, while rejecting a complete concession.
The CCI also penalised individual officials from both HP India and the reseller firms in both cases, holding them personally liable both legally and financially under Section 48 of the Act.
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