Ravi Shankar Tiwari Vs Automattic Inc. (Competition Commission of India)
The Central Information Commission (CCI) has ruled in favor of Automattic Inc., the parent company of WordPress.org, dismissing allegations of abusing its dominant position in the market. The case, filed by software developer Mr. Ravi Shankar Tiwari under Section 19(1)(a) of the Competition Act, 2002, accused Automattic Inc. of violating Section 4 of the Act.
Mr. Tiwari’s grievance stemmed from the delisting of his plugins, Way2enjoy Image Optimizer and Regenerate Thumbnails, from the WordPress Plugin Directory without explanation. He claimed that this action, coupled with the rejection of subsequent submissions, constituted an abuse of dominance by Automattic Inc., aimed at promoting its own plugin, Jetpack.
However, the Commission’s analysis found no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Automattic Inc. Firstly, it delineated the relevant markets, identifying the market for Content Management Software (CMS) in India as primary, where WordPress.org held a dominant position with a 62.5% market share. Additionally, the market for WordPress-Specific Plugin Directories in India was deemed significant.
Regarding the delisting of plugins, Automattic Inc. maintained that all developers must adhere to detailed guidelines to ensure transparency and quality in the Plugin Directory. Mr. Tiwari’s repeated violations of these guidelines, which were not contested, led to the removal of his plugins. The Commission found no unfairness or discrimination in this enforcement of standards.
