India’s Competition Commission has imposed penalties totaling 1.4 billion rupees against HP India and affiliated reseller partners for alleged collusive practices in the sale of computers, ink cartridges, toner, and related supplies. HP India received the largest fine of 1.3 billion rupees, while 21 resellers collectively faced 35.2 million rupees in penalties.
The regulator determined that HP India coordinated with five reseller partners to manipulate bidding processes for government contracts, increasing the likelihood that HP-affiliated resellers would win those bids. According to the CCI’s order, participating resellers sought assistance from HP India to restrict competitors from other territories, divide accounts among themselves, limit the distribution of manufacturer authorization forms, and implement “cover” bids—situations where one bidder submits a non-winning bid to create the appearance of competition.
In a separate finding, the CCI identified collusive arrangements between HP India and 16 Tier-2 reseller partners during 2017–2020, with evidence drawn from WhatsApp communications showing coordination on bid rigging, price fixing, and customer allocation. HP India was also separately fined 119.8 million rupees for cartellization involving toner, cartridges, and other consumable products used with printing hardware.
According to the regulatory order, HP India argued it was pressured into supporting the collusive arrangements because resellers faced pricing pressures and threatened to shift to counterfeit products. However, the CCI proceeded with enforcement action, directing HP India and its channel partners to cease anti-competitive conduct and implement competition compliance training within 60 days. HP has not issued a public response to the fines as of this reporting.