Case Law Details
Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) Vs MakeMyTrip India Pvt. Ltd. (MMT) (Competition Commission of India)
CCI imposes monetary and non-monetary sanctions on MakeMyTrip, GoIbibo and OYO for indulging in anti-competitive conduct
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed monetary as well as behavioral sanctions on MMT-Go (MakeMyTrip and GoIbibo) for abusing its dominant position and also for having anti-competitive arrangement with OYO (Oravel Stays Limited). Monetary penalty is also imposed on OYO for its anti-competitive arrangement with MMT-Go vide which MMT-Go delisted the competitors of OYO from its online portals in 2018.
The CCI carried out an in-depth analysis for delineation of relevant market, laying special emphasis on such assessment in case of platform markets. Commenting on the role of interdependencies in two-sided or multi-sided markets, the CCI opined that it is important to understand the nature of the interaction and interdependencies between the different sides of a multi-sided platform so as to ascertain the impact of such interaction or interlinkages in the analysis. However, the role of such interdependencies at the time of delineating relevant market should be limited to understanding the impact of such interactions on the substitutability analyzed primarily from the aggrieved user side. When apparently there are two distinct products/services which are being supplied (by the same seller i.e., the OTA) to two distinct set of buyers (end-consumers and hotel partners), ascertaining substitutability only from the perspective of one user group (i.e. the end-consumer in the present case) may erroneously conflate the competitive constraints that exist separately and distinctly in relation to each user side.
The CCI nevertheless undertook substitutability assessment from the perspective of both user groups. From the end-users’ perspective, the CCI relied upon the ‘Search, Compare and Booking’ (SCB) functionality test and observed that owing to the distinct characteristic features of the OTAs, they may not be comparable with other online modes.
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