The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has found Nair Coal Services Pvt. Ltd., Karam Chand Thapar & Bros (CS) Ltd. and Naresh Kumar & Co. Pvt. Ltd.  to be in contravention of the provisions of Section 3(1) read with Section 3(3)(c) and Section 3(3)(d) of the Competition Act, 2002 for acting in a collusive and concerted manner which eliminated and lessened the competition besides manipulating the bidding process in respect of the tenders floated by Maharashtra State Power Generation Co. Ltd. (MAHAGENCO) for award of contract of coal liasoning work for its various thermal power stations.          

Taking a serious view of the collusive conduct of coal liasoning agents, CCI opined that the case fell in the category of hard core cartels as the parties reached an agreement to submit collusive tenders and to divide the markets which warranted the matter to be dealt with utmost severity. Accordingly, CCI invoked the stringent provision of the law which enables it to impose a higher penalty in case of agreements entered into by cartels. Hence, a penalty at the rate of 2 times of the total profits earned from provision of coal liasoning services to all power generators for continuance of the cartel for 2010-11 to 2012-13 years was imposed upon the parties. Resultantly, CCI has imposed a penalty of ₹ 7.16 crore, ₹ 111.60 crore and ₹ 16.92 crore upon NCSL, KCT and NKC for the anti-competitive conduct. Besides, a cease and desist order was also issued against the above companies.

CCI has also deprecated the conduct of the Informant in breaching the confidentiality and sanctity of the inquiry by circulating copies of the investigation report to B.S.N Joshi & Sons Ltd.- a rival of the Opposite Parties – who, in turn, forwarded copies thereof to various authorities.  

The Order was passed on 10.01.2018 in Case No. 61 of 2013 and a copy thereof has been uploaded on the website of CCI at www.cci.gov.in

Hard core cartel prohibition leads to imposition of enhanced penalties for collusive bidding and market allocation. The commission found three coal liaising firms formed a hard core cartel by submitting collusive tenders and dividing the market for coal liaising services in response to procurement tenders, thereby eliminating and lessening competition and manipulating the bidding process; accordingly the commission invoked enhanced-penalty provisions for cartel agreements, imposed monetary penalties based on profits during the cartel period and issued a cease and desist directive, and criticised an informant for breaching confidentiality by circulating investigation material.