New Delhi: Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a penalty of Rs 2,544 crores on 14 car companies for anti-competitive practices of not selling their spare parts in the open market. The penalty is to be deposited within 60 days. CCI found that agreements of these car companies with local equipment suppliers (OESs) and with authorised dealers imposed absolute restrictive covenants and completely foreclosed the aftermarket for supply of spare parts and other diagnostic tools.
It found that these car companies to be dominant in the after markets for their respective brands, abused their dominant position and affected around two crore car consumers. “The 14 car firms were found to be indulging in practices resulting in denial of market access to independent repairers as the latter were not provided access to branded spare parts and diagnostic tools which hampered their ability to provide services in the aftermarket for repair and maintenance of cars,” said CCI.
