Comments
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) passed a final order against four maritime transport companies namely Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line), Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. (K-Line), Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. (MOL) and Nissan Motor Car Carrier Company (NMCC) for indulging in cartelisation in the provision of maritime motor vehicle transport services to automobile Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) for various trade routes.
Amongst these four companies, NYK Line, MOL and NMCC were lesser penalty applicants before CCI.
As three companies filed lesser penalty applications, the Commission gave benefit of reduction in penalty by 100 per cent to NYK Line and its individuals, 50 per cent to MOL and its individuals and 30 per cent to NMCC and its individuals. Accordingly, the Commission directed K-Line, MOL and NMCC to pay penalties to the tune of about ₹24.23 crore, ₹10.12 crore and ₹28.69 crore respectively, besides passing a cease-and-desist order, an official release said.
Avoiding competition
The evaluation of available evidence revealed that there was an agreement between NYK Line, K-Line, MOL and NMCC with the objective of enforcement of “Respect Rule”, which implied avoiding competition with each other and protecting the business of incumbent carrier with the respective OEM. To achieve the said objective, the maritime transport companies resorted to multi-lateral as well as bilateral contacts/ meetings/ e-mails with each other to share commercially sensitive information which, inter alia, included freight rates. They also aimed to preserve their position in the market and maintain or increase prices, including by resisting requests for price reduction from certain OEMs.
Related Stories
FOR WEB AND PRINT/ bl25_bmpmj_Logistics_VOCPort EXIM trade rallies behind PSA-Sical Terminals as VOC Port goes for termi
EXIM trade says it will be deprived of terminal handling capacity if PSA-Sical Terminals is shutAccordingly, based on a cumulative assessment of the evidence, the Commission held all the four opposite parties, i.e., NYK Line, K-Line, MOL and NMCC, guilty of contravention of the provisions of Section 3 of the Competition Act, 2002 ,which prohibits anti-competitive agreements including cartels, from 2009 to 2012. Further, 14 individuals of NYK Line, 10 individuals of K-Line, 6 individuals of MOL and 3 individuals of NMCC, were also held liable for the anti-competitive conduct of their respective companies, in terms of the provisions of Section 48 of the Competition Act.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.