New Delhi [India], July 23: In a major action against cartelisation in government procurement, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed penalties exceeding ₹140 crore on HP India and 21 of its authorised resellers for indulging in anti-competitive practices, including bid-rigging, price coordination, cover bidding and manipulation of Government e-Marketplace (GeM) tenders.
The Commission found that HP India played a central role in orchestrating the cartel by dictating bid prices to its resellers and selectively issuing or withholding tender authorisations to influence which reseller would participate in a GeM tender. According to the CCI, this practice distorted competition, manipulated public procurement and created only an illusion of competitive bidding.
In the first case relating to the supply of personal system products, the CCI held Delphi Infosolutions, Digitech Computers, Orbit Techsol, Hind Technocare and Krishna Computers guilty of acting in collusion with HP India. The Commission found that these resellers coordinated bid submissions and pricing with HP India instead of competing independently, thereby violating the provisions of the Competition Act relating to cartelisation and bid-rigging.
In a separate order concerning the supply of HP toner cartridges, printer consumables and other supplies, the CCI named 16 Tier-2 resellers for submitting support or cover bids—a practice in which bidders deliberately submit non-competitive quotations to ensure that a pre-selected bidder secures the contract. The entities identified are:
- DD Enterprises
- Ascent Information
- Kaypee Enterprises
- Britex Enterprises
- Alankar Distributors
- Vijay Stationery Mart
- G R Enterprises
- Perfect Innovative
- Khandelwal Traders
- A Square Technologies
- Innovative Solutions
- Pioneer Technologies
- Delphi Infosolutions
- Shakti Marketing
- International Computer Resources
- Arms Peripherals
The Commission observed that these firms participated in a coordinated arrangement facilitated by HP India, thereby undermining fair competition in government procurement and defeating the objective of transparent bidding through the GeM platform.
For the personal systems cartel, the CCI imposed a penalty of ₹126.87 crore on HP India and approximately ₹1.22 crore collectively on the five resellers. In the consumables cartel, HP India was fined ₹11.98 crore, while the 16 resellers were collectively penalised about ₹2.30 crore.
Besides imposing monetary penalties, the Commission directed HP India and all the concerned resellers to immediately cease and desist from anti-competitive practices. It also held the responsible officials of HP India and the reseller companies personally liable under Section 48 of the Competition Act, imposing separate monetary penalties on them.
The CCI concluded that the conduct of HP India and its reseller network amounted to cartelisation, bid-rigging, cover bidding, price coordination and manipulation of GeM tenders, in violation of Sections 3(3)(d) read with Section 3(1) of the Competition Act, 2002. The order is expected to strengthen oversight of public procurement and serves as a strong warning that collusive bidding and manipulation of government tenders will invite stringent regulatory action.
If you object to the content of this press release, please notify us at pr.error.rectification@gmail.com. We will respond and rectify the situation within 24 hours.
