The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed cumulative penalties of Rs138.85 crore on HP India for allegedly engaging in anti-competitive practices in the sale and supply of personal system products and printing supplies, while levying an additional combined penalty of about Rs3.52 crore on 21 resellers found to have colluded in government procurement tenders.
In two separate orders issued on 13 July under Section 27 of the Competition Act, 2002, the competition watchdog held that HP India orchestrated cartel arrangements with its authorized resellers in tenders floated through the government eMarketplace (GeM) platform. The CCI also directed HP India and the resellers concerned to cease and desist from anti-competitive conduct in violation of Sections 3(3)(d) read with Section 3(1) of the Act.
In the first case, relating to personal system products, the CCI imposed a penalty of Rs126.87 crore on HP India and a combined penalty of approximately INR1.22 crore on five resellers—Delphi Infosolutions, Digitech Computers, Orbit Techsol, Hind Technocare and Krishna Computers.
The Commission found that HP India dictated bid prices to resellers and manipulated their participation in GeM tenders by selectively withholding authorisations, enabling preferred bidders to secure contracts. It said the five resellers colluded with HP India in bid-rigging arrangements.
In the second case, involving printing supplies such as toner cartridges and other consumables used with HP print hardware, the CCI imposed an additional penalty of Rs11.98 crore on HP India and around IRs2.30 crore on 16 Tier-2 resellers.
The penalized resellers include DD Enterprises, Ascent Information, Kaypee Enterprises, Britex Enterprises, Alankar Distributors, Vijay Stationery Mart, G R Enterprises, Perfect Innovative, Khandelwal Traders, A Square Technologies, Innovative Solutions, Pioneer Technologies, Delphi Infosolutions, Shakti Marketing, International Computer Resources and Arms Peripherals.
According to the CCI, these resellers engaged in submitting support or cover bids to create the appearance of competition in government tenders, while HP India played a central role in coordinating the cartel.
Both investigations originated from lesser penalty applications filed by HP India under Section 46 of the Competition Act, through which the company disclosed the cartel arrangements. Based on the evidence gathered, the Commission also held officials of HP India and the implicated resellers liable under Section 48 of the Act and imposed monetary penalties on them.
The orders reinforce the CCI’s scrutiny of bid-rigging and cartelisation in public procurement, particularly on the government eMarketplace platform, where fair competition is intended to ensure transparent and competitive pricing for government purchases.
