The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed penalties on three firms for bid rigging of tenders floated by Indian Railways for procurement of brushless DC fans in 2013, said a release.

Penalties of ₹2.09 crore, ₹62.37 lakh and ₹20.01 lakh were imposed on Western Electric and Trading Company, Pyramid Electronics and R Kanwar Electricals, respectively, it added.

‘Suo motu’ case A final order has been passed by CCI in a case taken up suo motu under Section 19 of the Competition Act based on the information received from Central Bureau of Investigation, New Delhi.

CCI has held that the firms had shared the market by way of allocation of tenders of Indian Railways for brushless DC fans amongst themselves under an agreement and indulged in bid rigging and collusive bidding, the release said.

The anti-competitive conduct of the firms has been established based on exchange of rates to be quoted in upcoming tenders amongst the errant firms, numerous calls amongst the key persons of these firms before and during the period of the tenders and admission by one of the firms, which confirmed the existence and modus operandi of the cartel, it said.

While imposing the penalties, Commission took into consideration all the relevant factors, including the duration of the cartel, volume of the tender affected by the cartel and value thereof and decided to impose the penalties.

Additionally, considering the totality of facts and circumstances of the case, penalty was also imposed on persons in charge of the three firms at the rate of 10 per cent of their average income for the last three preceding financial years, the release added.

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