CCI imposes Rs 200 crore penalty on Maruti Suzuki over discount diktat

It has directed MSIL to cease and desist from indulging in RPM directly or indirectly, which has been found by the commission in the present order to be in contravention of the provisions of Section 3(4)(e) of the Act.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a penalty of Rs 200 crore on Maruti Suzuki India Ltd over anti-competitive practice of imposing a discount control policy, thereby restricting dealers from offering higher level of concessions to the consumers. The anti-trust body, in its order, said that Maruti Suzuki not only entered into an agreement with its dealers across India for the imposition of discount control policy amounting to retail price maintenance (RPM), but also monitored the same by appointing Mystery Shopping Agencies (MSA) and enforced the same through the imposition of penalties, which resulted in "appreciable adverse effect on competition" within India. It has directed MSIL to cease and desist from indulging in RPM directly or indirectly, which has been found by the commission in the present order to be in contravention of the provisions of Section 3(4)(e) of the Act.