Competition Commission of India on monday imposed a penalty of Rs 2544.64 crore on 14 car companies for violating the competition law. India’s Tata Motors Ltd suffered the highest penalty of Rs.1,346.46 crore, followed by Maruti Suzuki (Rs.471.14 crore), Mahindra & Mahindra (Rs.292.25 crore) and General Motors (Rs.84.58 crore). The other car companies that have been penalised are: Honda Siel, Volkswagen India, Fiat India, BMW India, Ford India, Hindustan Motors, Mercedes Benz, Nissan Motor, Skoda Auto India and Toyota Kirloskar India.
Ensuing detailed investigation, the Commission found that the conduct of the Car Companies was in violation of the provisions of section 3(4) of the Act with respect to its agreements with local Original Equipment Suppliers (OESs) and agreements with authorized dealers whereby it imposed absolute restrictive covenants and completely foreclosed the aftermarket for supply of spare parts and other diagnostic tools.
