20 July, 2015
CCI by way of its order dated June 10, 2015, dismissed the complaint filed M/s Surana and Surana (‘S&S’) against Dell India Private Limited (‘Dell’) alleging a contravention of the provisions of Sections 3 and Section 4 of the Competition Act.
S&S, a law firm based in Chennai, alleged that Dell had entered the Indian market of com- puters and computer hardware by indulging in predatory pricing practices, and offering its products at prices that were significantly lower than those offered by its competitors in violation of Section 4 of the Competition Act.
S&S also alleged that Dell had entered into anti-competitive agreements with its distributors/ partners in violation of Section 3(4) of the Competition Act, as its distributors were pre- vented from furnishing competing quotes of another Dell distributor/ partner to customers resulting in a refusal to deal. This, as alleged by S&S resulted also resulted in denial of market access to S&S and the distributors/ partners of Dell in violation of Section 4(2)(c) of the Com- petition Act.
CCI considered the S&S complaint in the context of the market of x86 servers in India. In respect of the allegation that Dell had abused a dominant position, CCI found that Dell was not dominant in this market as it did not have a high market share and it faced competitive con- straints from a number of other players in the market. In relation to the complaint that Dell and its distributors had made anticompetitive agreements resulting in a refusal to deal, CCI found that the vertical relationship between Dell and its distributors did not result in an AAEC in the relevant market. CCI also noted that there were x86 type servers of other companies available in the market. Moreover, CCI noted that the agreements between Dell and its distributors did not result in the creation of barriers to new entrants, foreclose of competition or drive out competi- tors from the market, among other factors. On this basis CCI found that there was no prima facie case of contravention of the provisions of the Competition Act and closed the case.
For further information, please contact:
Zia Mody, Partner, AZB & Partners
zia.mody@azbpartners.com
Shuva Mandal, Partner, AZB & Partners
shuva.mandal@azbpartners.com
