Pharma,telecom cartels? CCI to probe

8220;Some such sectors recently have been taken up by the Commission in respect to alleged cartelisation related to real estate,pharmaceuticals,civil aviation,telecom,tyre manufacturing,cement,milk distribution,onion and asbestos,8221; Singh said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

CCI is mandated to look into the cartelisation by enterprises,which is anti-competitive activity having appreciable adverse effect on competition that could adversely affect prices,the Minister said.

He noted further that data on price rise is not maintained by the CCI.

According to the Minister,parties involved in cartelisation activities are dealth with severely by the Commission as per provisions in the Competition Act 2002.

In June,the anti-competition regulator had slapped a hefty penalty of about Rs 6,200 crore on 11 leading cement companies including ACC,Ambuja Cements,Ultratech and Jaypee Cements for price cartelisation.

The other companies found guilty were Grasim Cements now merged with Ultratech Cements,Lafarge India,JK Cement,India Cements,Madras Cements,Century Cements and Binani Cements.

The industry body Cement Manufacturers Association CMA was also fined.

The regulator was looking into 39 cases and 26 other cases were under investigation with the Commission8217;s Director General as on June 30,2012. Majority of them were related to the infrastructure sector.

There were also cases related to banking and financial services,film/entertainment/TV,information technology/telecom,medical/pharmaceuticals,civil aviation,petroleum /gas and automobiles,among others.

The pending cases are mostly related to anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominant market position.

CCI can slap fine on entities involved in cartelisation: Govt

The Companies Act does not provide provisions to cancel the licences of firms found guilty of profiteering,while the Competition Commission has the right to impose penalties on them,Parliament was informed today.

Replying to a query on whether licences of companies found guilty of profiteering can be cancelled,Minister of State for Corporate Affairs R P N Singh said there are no provisions in the Competition Act 2002 for such cancellations.

However,the Competition Commission can impose penalties on such companies,Singh said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

8220;Companies found guilty of contravention of provision Section 33a and 33b read with Section 31 of the Competition Act 2002,shall be dealt with the Commission as per the provisions of Section 27 of the Act,which inter-alia provide for imposing of penalties on such companies,8221; Singh said.

Section 3 of the Act prohibits anti-competitive pacts among enterprises.

The Commission has the mandate to eliminate practices that have adverse impact on competition and protect the interests of consumers.

In June,the regulator had slapped a penalty of Rs 6,307.32 crore on 11 cement companies for price cartelisation.

Other major orders of the Commission in recent times include those against realty major DLF and leading stock exchange NSE for alleged abuse of dominant market position in their respective businesses.