CCI imposes penalty for bid rigging in tender of SBI

The Competition Commission of India (‘CCI’) passed a final order against seven entities for indulging in anticompetitive agreement for supply of signages for branches/offices/ATMs of State Bank of India (SBI). Amongst these seven entities, one party was a lesser penalty applicant before CCI.  This matter was initiated suo motu by CCI on the basis of complaint received in 2018 alleging bid-rigging and cartelisation in the tender floated by SBI Infra Management Solutions Pvt. Ltd. The investigation inter alia found e-mails exchanged between the parties which formed the basis for manipulation of the bidding process.

Competition Commission of India imposes penalty on seven entities for bid rigging in the tender of State Bank of India

A copy of the order in Suo Motu Case No. 02 of 2020 is available onhttps://t.co/giV7dlChU9

Details: https://t.co/WYKgjHJrWL

— PIB India (@PIB_India) February 4, 2022

Based on a cumulative assessment of the evidence collected, CCI found that there was an agreement amongst the parties which resulted in geographical market allocation as well as bid-rigging in the tender of SBI. Accordingly, all the parties were held to be guilty of contravention of the provisions of Section 3 of the Competition Act, 2002 (the Act), which prohibits anti-competitive agreements including cartels. Further, 9 (nine) individuals of these parties were also held liable for the anti-competitive conduct of their respective entities, in terms of the provisions of Section 48 of the Act.