The Competition Commission of India issued fines totaling 1.4 billion rupees against HP India and its channel partners for engaging in anticompetitive practices involving computers, printing supplies, and related products. The regulator found that HP India coordinated with five resellers to manipulate bid prices for government contracts, increasing the likelihood that an HP-affiliated partner would secure these deals. HP India received a fine of 1.3 billion rupees for its role in the coordination, while 21 reseller partners were fined an additional 35.2 million rupees.
The CCI identified specific anticompetitive tactics employed through the collusive arrangement, including restricting participation of resellers from other territories in local tenders, dividing accounts and contracts among designated partners, limiting the issuance of manufacturer authorization forms to select resellers, and coordinating cover bids to suppress competing prices. WhatsApp communications reviewed by regulators revealed bid rigging, price fixing, and customer allocation activities spanning from 2017 through 2020, with HP India playing a central coordinating role.
HP India also faced a separate fine of 119.8 million rupees specifically for cartelization in the sale and supply of toner cartridges, ink cartridges, and other consumables used with printing hardware. According to the regulatory order, HP India justified some of its actions by noting that high printing supply prices prompted certain resellers to threaten switching to counterfeit products as a competitive alternative, effectively forcing the company into supporting the collusive arrangement.
The CCI ordered HP India and its channel partners to cease anticompetitive conduct and to conduct competition compliance training programs within 60 days. The case highlights ongoing tensions in the printer market, where high consumable costs have created pressure on both resellers and end users to seek alternatives, while HP simultaneously employs technical measures to prevent use of third-party supplies.
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