New Delhi, July 13 (IANS) The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Monday imposed a total penalty of Rs 142.37 crore on HP India Sales Private Limited and 21 of its resellers in two separate orders after finding them guilty of cartelisation and bid rigging in government procurement through the Government e-Marketplace (GeM).

In one order, the fair trade regulator imposed a penalty of Rs 126.87 crore on HP India and a combined penalty of around Rs 1.22 crore on five of its resellers for indulging in anti-competitive practices in the sale and supply of personal system products.

In the second order, the CCI levied a penalty of ₹11.98 crore on HP India and around ₹2.30 crore on 16 of its resellers for cartelisation in the sale and supply of printer supplies products, including toner cartridges and other consumables used with printing hardware.

The Commission directed HP India and all the implicated resellers to cease and desist from anti-competitive conduct after finding them in violation of Sections 3(3)(d) read with Section 3(1) of the Competition Act, 2002.

According to the CCI, both proceedings stemmed from lesser penalty applications filed by HP India under Section 46 of the Competition Act, through which the company disclosed cartel arrangements involving itself and its resellers.

The regulator found that the resellers had coordinated by seeking and submitting support or cover bids in government tenders, thereby distorting the competitive bidding process on the GeM platform.

In the printer consumables case, the Commission held 16 Tier-2 resellers guilty of cartelisation. These include DD Enterprises, Ascent Information, Kaypee Enterprises, Britex Enterprises, Alankar Distributors, Vijay Stationery Mart, G R Enterprises, Perfect Innovative, Khandelwal Traders, A Square Technologies, Innovative Solutions, Pioneer Technologies, Delphi Infosolutions, Shakti Marketing, International Computer Resources and Arms Peripherals.

In the personal system products case, the CCI similarly found five resellers guilty of cartelisation in the sale and supply of computers and related products procured through GeM.

The Commission observed that HP India played a central role in facilitating the cartel arrangements in both cases and was therefore liable for violating the provisions of the Competition Act.

Besides imposing monetary penalties on the company and the resellers, the CCI also held officials of HP India and the concerned reseller firms liable under Section 48 of the Act and imposed penalties on them.

–IANS

pk