Case Law Details
Vipul Jain Vs. Samsung India Electronics Private Limited and Others (Competition Commission of India)
It has been stated that during the course of his business, the Informant has discovered that OPs have formed a cartel in response to certain tenders floated by various government departments for procurement of smartphones, It has been alleged that OP-1 and OP-3 are the main beneficiaries of such cartel arrangements and OP-2 submits bid as a cover bidder even though it has announced worldwide closure of its smartphone division in April, 2021. It is submitted that OP-2, in some previous instances, has also participated in such tenders through its representatives who have had direct transaction with OP-3 and its shell companies. As per the Informant, OP-3 has formed OP-11 and OP-12 as shell companies to participate and assist OP-3 in the tenders floated by various government departments.
The Informant has also averred that the requirement of participation of minimum three OEMs, as stipulated under Rule 149 of the General Financial Rules (“GFR”), has been violated in such tenders.
As per the Informant, the ultimate beneficiary of this collusive bidding is OP-1 and because of the same, the market share of OP-1 has strengthened.
The Informant has also alleged that OP-4, OP-5, OP-6, OP-7, OP-8, OP-9 and, OP-10 have received earnest money deposit (“EMD”) amount from OP-11 and OP-12 for participating in the tenders.
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