The Indian Competition Authority issues for the second time in a cartelization case a cease and desist order with no penalty against 10 suppliers of brake blocks for alleged bid-rigging (Chief Materials Manager, South Eastern Railway / Hindustan Composites)

Two of the final orders recently pronounced by the CCI finding parties in violation of the cartel and bid-rigging provisions of the Competition Act, 2002 (“Act”) have come as a surprise to many. While the CCI found clinching evidence regarding the existence of an agreement to cartelize and rig bids, for the first time in a case of cartelization, the CCI refrained from imposing penalties and instead only issued ‘cease and desist orders’ in the case of In Re: Cartelisation in Industrial and Automotive Bearings (Case no. 05 of 2017). Recently, the CCI continued this approach in the case of In Re: Chief Materials Manager, South Eastern Railway v. Hindustan Composites Limited & Ors. (Reference Case no. 03 of 2016). The information in this case was filed by the chief managers