Competition Commission orders against 8 MSMEs for bid rigging in Railway tender

New Delhi, Oct 12 (KNN) The Competition Commission of India (CCI) issued a final order on Tuesday against eight firms which were found guilty of bid rigging and cartelization in tender floated by Eastern Railway.

The case was initiated on the basis of a reference filed on behalf of the Eastern Railway.

CCI found these firms to have indulged in cartelization in the supply of Axle Bearings to Eastern Railway by means of directly or indirectly determining prices, allocating tenders, coordinating bid prices and manipulating the bidding process.

However, CCI refrained from imposing any monetary penalty considering the firms were MSMEs with limited staff and turnover.

Furthermore, the Commission found that the OPs stopped their cartel conduct immediately after the investigation began in the earlier matter (i.e., Ref. Case No. 02 of 2018).

The evidence in the matter included e-mails, call detail records and the statements of the representatives of the firms.

The e-mails exchanged showed that the firms discussed quantity allocation with respect to the tenders of Indian Railways for the procurement of Axle Bearings amongst themselves.

The vendors were also found to have discussed the compensation mechanism in the event that some of them did not win the agreed quantities. Of the eight (8) entities, two (02) were lesser penalty applicants before the CCI.  (KNN Bureau)