Competition Commission of India asks Coal India to cease unfair business practice

NEW DELHI: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has taken state-owned Coal India Ltd to task for abusing its dominant position and asked it to cease unfair business practices.

CCI said Coal India and Western Coalfields violated competition norms by imposing unfair conditions on buyer GHCL, which is engaged in the business of soda ash and other chemicals. The regulator has ordered Coal India and Western Coalfields to take remedial steps within a period of 60 days. Since a penalty was imposed earlier, it was refraining from doing so again, CCI said. In December 2013, a penalty of about Rs 1,773 crore was imposed on Coal India, which has challenged it at the Competition Appellate Tribunal. This had been imposed on Coal India "in the previous batch of information with respect to similar issues", the CCI order said.

The fair trade regulator found that Coal India and its subsidiaries operate independently of market forces and enjoy undisputed dominance in the relevant market of "production and supply of non-coking coal to the thermal power producers in India". CCI also noted that Coal India treated small buyers and large power producers differently.