New Delhi: Fair trade regulator CCI said it would take 'quite some time' before reaching a final decision on the case related to Internet major Google's alleged anti-competitive practices. The Competition Commission of India's investigative arm has submitted its report on the matter. "It is going to take quite some time before there is any finality on the matter," said CCI Chairman, Ashok Chawla . He was responding to a query about the status of the Google case and speculations surrounding it.
"There is always speculation in high-profile cases. The short point is it (the case) has to go through the process as prescribed in the Competition Act... The parties (concerned) have to be heard and then the Commission will come to a decision," Chawla said on the sidelines of a summit here. The investigation report has been sent out to parties on both sides and their comments are awaited. The regulator refers cases to its investigative arm's Director General (DG) for a detailed probe. The DG report is believed to contain comments and inputs from a host of entities present in the Internet business, including some well-known e-commerce firms and Web portals. While submissions from some of them appear to suggest violations on part of Google, others have sided with the US-based global giant.
"We are currently reviewing this report from the CCI's ongoing investigation. We continue to work closely with CCI and remain confident that we comply fully with India's competition laws," a Google spokesperson had said in August. CCI, which first received a complaint against Google back in 2011, has been looking into allegations that the company abused its dominant position in the search engine space for well over three years. Participating in the Skoch summit on 'Transformative Governance', Chawla said transformative governance is critical as it helps to ensure efficiency, transparency as well as strengthen institutions.
Regarding alleged cartelisation in air ticket prices, Chawla said the matter is under investigation. "The (aviation) sector and the airline industry is such that there is always a feeling that there would be possible cartelisation because there is concentration and the number of players are a few," he noted. Also, air fares go up every now and then, he added. Chawla said it had looked at the issue on earlier occasions also, but could not find any evidence of cartelisation. In recent times, there have been increasing demand from various quarters, including parliamentarians, to put in place a mechanism to contain steep fluctuations in air fares.
Meanwhile, concerned over possible nexus between doctors and pharmaceutical companies, the regulator has decided to soon carry out a detailed study of the pharma and healthcare services sector in the national capital region. Public and private hospitals, insurance companies, pharmaceutical firms and their associations, doctors and their associations, among others, would be covered under the study.
When asked about it, Chawla said if the survey throws up findings of possible anti-competitive practices, then the matter would be taken forward.
