Jet Airways, Indigo, SpiceJet fined for cartel

The order was passed by CCI in a case filed by Express Industry Council of India alleging contravention of the provisions of Section 3 of the Competition Act, 2002 which deals with anti-competitive agreements.

However, the fair trade regulator did not impose any penalty on national airline Air India and private carrier Go Airlines, which were also named in the complaint filed by Express Industry Council of India. The commission noted that the airlines acted in parallel in collusion in fixing FSC rates.

“Such conduct was found to have resulted in indirectly determining the rates of air cargo transport and thereby in contravention of the provisions of Section 3(1) read with Section 3(3)(a) of the Act,” the CCI said.

While a penalty of Rs 151.69 crore has been imposed on Jet Airways, the fines slapped on InterGlobe and SpiceJet amount to about Rs 63.74 crore and Rs 42.48 crore, respectively. Besides, cease and desist order was also issued against the airlines.

While imposing penalties, the Commission noted that such conduct in the air cargo industry undermines economic development of the country and ultimately acts to the detriment of end-consumers. However, considering the precarious financial position of Airlines, the penalty was imposed by the Commission at one percent of their average turnover of the last three financial years.