Indian appeals authority refers tire 'cartel' fine for review

New Delhi - A decision to fine a number of India-based tire makers for 'cartelisation' activities has been referred back for review following appeals by the manufacturers involved.

The ruling, issued on 1 Dec, follows a series of appeals in the case involving Apollo Tyres, Birla Tyres, Ceat Ltd, MRF Ltd and JK Tyre as well as industry body the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA).

Having considered the highly detailed appeals, India's national company law appellate tribunal (NCLAT) decided to “remand back the cases for review" by the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI), which had previously found the tire makers guilty of cartelisation.

NCLAT's decision was based on technical and other errors identified in CCI's original review and findings, as well as the potential impact of the penalties on the domestic tire industry.

In February, CCI imposed a total penalty of INR17.8 billion (€205 million) against Apollo Tyres, MRF, Ceat, JK Tyre and Birla Tyres, as well as a penalty of Rs840,000 on ATMA for alleged price-fixing activities during 2011-12 and 2013-14.

 At that time, CCI stated that the companies had been acting 'in concert to increase the prices of cross ply/bias tires variants sold in the replacement market and limiting and controlling production and supply in the said market.'

 Individual penalties for the tire makers are INR4.25 billion on Apollo Tyres; INR6.22 billion on MRF; INR2.52 billion on Ceat; INR3.09 billion on JK Tyre and INR1.78 billion on Birla Tyres.

 In a 2 Dec statement reporting the NCLAT decision regarding the appeal, Ceat emphasised that it had "never indulged in any cartel or anti-competitive practices."