Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a penalty of Rs.41,393/- on M/s Tamilnadu Film Exhibitors’ Association (TNFEA) (now known as Tamilnadu Theatre Owners’ Association). The penalty has been imposed in respect of information filed by M/s Reliance Big Entertainment Pvt. Ltd (RBEPL) alleging contravention of the provisions of Section 3 and 4 of the Competition Act.

In its information, M/s RBEPL has alleged that it was entitled to distribute a film titled ‘Osthe’ in Tamil language that was a remake of Hindi film Dabang. However, M/s TNFEA boycotted this film with an effort to secure a claim of its members against a third party M/s Sun TV.

CCI in its investigation concluded that the decisions and conduct of TNFEA in respect of the boycott against film ‘Osthe’ and other films dealt by Sun TV were in contravention of the provisions of Section 3(3)(b).

The penalty of Rs.41,393/- has been imposed @ 10% of the average turnover of the Association for the relevant last three years. This penalty is to be deposited within 60 days of receipt of this order. CCI has also directed M/s TNFEA to cease and desist from indulging in such anti-competitive conduct in future.

Anticompetitive boycott found under competition law led to a regulatory penalty and a cease-and-desist directive. The authority found that the association's organised boycott of specified film releases constituted a horizontal anticompetitive agreement restricting market access in the film exhibition market; it imposed a monetary sanction calculated with reference to the association's average turnover and directed the association to cease the anticompetitive conduct and comply with deposit timelines.