2/6/2018
PUNE (NEW
DELHI): The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a
penalty on four firms in two bid-rigging cases related to tenders floated by
the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). The corporation had floated the tender
for “Design, Supply, Installation, Commissioning, Operation and Maintenance of
Municipal Organic and Inorganic Solid Waste Processing Plant(s)” in 2013-14 and
2014-15.
These cases were taken up by CCI suo-motu under
Section 19 of the competition law. The penalty was imposed under the ‘lesser
penalty’ regulations. All firms in these cases had approached the CCI as
‘lesser penalty’ applicants. A ‘lesser penalty’ applicant is someone who has
provided vital disclosure and relevant information, documents and evidence as
may be required by the Commission in a case. He enjoys a priority status in the
queue of applicants and is granted a reduction in penalty.
A penalty amount of Rs. 46.45 lakh was imposed on Saara
Traders Pvt Ltd (Saara), Rs. 33 lakh on Ecoman Enviro Solutions Pvt Ltd (‘Ecoman’), Rs. 11 lakh
on Fortified Security Solutions (‘Fortified’) and Rs.26.40
lakh on Raghunath Industry Pvt Ltd (‘Raghunath’).
Penalty was also imposed on individual officials of three
firms, namely Saara, Ecoman and Raghunath at the rate of 10 percent of their
average income for the same three years. No penalty was imposed on individual
officials of Fortified as it is a proprietorship firm. Further, no penalty was
levied in case involving tender floated in financial year 2014-15 in view of the
penalty already imposed.
Keeping in view the modus operandi of the cartel, the
stage at which the lesser penalty application was filed, the evidences gathered
by the DG independent of lesser penalty application and cooperation extended in
conjunction with the value addition provided in establishing the existence of
cartel, CCI granted 50 percent reduction in penalty to Saara and its
individuals than otherwise leviable.
Owing to the reduction,
penalty imposed on Saara was Rs. 23.22
lakh and Rs. 74,513 on its individual,
an official release said.
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