CCI Fines HP India and Resellers Rs 142.37 Crore

The Competition Commission of India imposed aggregate penalties of Rs 142.37 crore on HP India Sales Private Limited and its resellers for bid rigging and cartelization on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM). The enforcement occurred through two separate orders targeting the manipulation of IT product tenders.

In the first case, the regulator fined HP India Rs 126.87 crore and five resellers—including Delphi Infosolutions, Digitech Computers, Orbit Techsol, Hind Technocare, and Krishna Computers—a combined Rs 1.22 crore. This case involved the manipulation of bid prices and the withholding of authorizations for personal system products such as PCs and laptops.

In the second case, the regulator fined HP India Rs 11.98 crore and 16 tier-2 resellers a combined Rs 2.30 crore for rigging the sale of print hardware consumables, including toner and ink cartridges, between 2017 and 2020. The commission found that these resellers used support or cover bids to create an illusion of competition.

The investigations began after HP India filed lesser penalty applications under the leniency programme of the Competition Act, which resulted in penalty reductions for the company. The regulator concluded that HP India played a central role by dictating bid prices and allocating customers to ensure specific resellers won tenders, even after the introduction of e-tendering. The commission ordered all involved parties to cease and desist from anti-competitive conduct and imposed monetary penalties on specific company and reseller officials.