Govt conducts antitrust searches on tyre firms
NEW DELHI: India’s antitrust agency on Wednesday searched offices of tyre companies including Germany’s Continental AG and India’s Apollo Tyres and CEAT in a case of suspected competition law violations, four people aware of the development said.
Shares of Apollo, one of India’s biggest tyre makers, fell as much as 3% after the raids were first reported.
The shares of CEAT, meanwhile, dropped 2.2% in the Mumbai market, which was trading higher.
Shares of Continental fell about 3.5% in morning trade in Frankfurt.
Apollo did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while calls and messages to CEAT spokespeople went unanswered.
Officers of the Competition Commission of India had visited its office located near New Delhi, Continental confirmed. “Continental is fully cooperating with the authorities,” the company said.
The searches were being conducted at the office premises of the companies across multiple cities in the country by the Competition Commission of India officers, the people mentioned above said on condition of anonymity.
The Competition Commission of India did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The agency does not publicly disclose its raids.
One of the people mentioned above said the searches were related to an investigation that was launched to probe the use of unfair trade practices and rigging of bids while supplying tyres for public transport vehicles in Haryana.
had reported in 2020 the Competition Commission of India was conducting a broad investigation covering many tyre companies after it received a complaint from the Haryana government.
The Competition Commission of India said at the time: “there appears to be some arrangement or understanding amongst the tyre manufacturers”.
A finding of bid-rigging could lead to a fine of up to three times the profit in each year the prices were fixed by the companies, or 10% of annual revenue, whichever is more.
SEARCHES WERE BEING CONDUCTED IN MULTIPLE CITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY AT THE OFFICES OF THE TYRE COMPANIES