The Indian Competition Authority issues for the first time in a cartelization case a cease and desist order with no penalty against 4 industrial and automotive bearings manufacturers (Schaeffler / SKF / NEI / Tata)

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) by way of a whistleblower application [1], the CCI found four industrial and