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Informist, Tuesday, May 20, 2025

 

NEW DELHI – Competition Commission of India will make use of the new Cost Regulations 2025 announced earlier in the month to assess predatory pricing and deep discounting practices in the quick commerce and e-commerce segments, Chairperson Ravneet Kaur said Tuesday. "We'll use that to determine whether there are any anti-competitive practices at play (by quick commerce companies)," Kaur told reporters on the sidelines of the regulator's 16th annual day event. 

 

Her comments come against the backdrop of All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation's complaint to CCI last year regarding several challenges faced by the traditional supply chain due to the rapid growth of quick commerce business like Swiggy, Blinkit, Zepto, especially the linking of these platforms as direct distributors of some fast moving consumer goods by various companies.

 

Rather than prescribing sector-specific metrics, the new framework makes a case-by-case assessment, enabling the watchdog to consider the unique features and evolving dynamics of digital markets when evaluating alleged predatory conduct, the regulator had said while releasing the norms. "Some stakeholders expressed concern that the draft regulations lack clarity on how the Commission will assess costs in different sectors viz. digital markets. In response, the Commission notes that the Cost Regulations 2025 establish a sector-agnostic, cost-based framework that is flexible and adaptable to various industries, including the digital economy," it had said.

 

According to All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation's plea, quick commerce services negatively impact more than 10 million local 'kirana' stores across the country. The federation had first approached the commerce ministry with this petition, and the ministry's Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade referred it to CCI. 

 

GENSOL ENGG CASE

Speaking to media, Kaur also said that CCI is not directly involved with Gensol Engineering Ltd.'s case, but the National Financial Reporting Authority is conducting a preliminary enquiry into the matter following a reference from the markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India. Kaur currently holds the additional post of National Financial Reporting Authority's chairperson. The authority is India's auditing and accounting superviser. 

 

SEBI said it found prima facie that a loan of INR 967 million from Power Finance Corp. Ltd. taken by Gensol Engineering "was diverted to promoter and promoter-linked entities, bypassing the stated end-use of the PFC loan". The regulator also found that INR 375 million out of a total loan of INR 1.71 billion taken by Gensol EV Lease from Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency was transferred to Anmol Jaggi, one of the promoters. "This aspect needs further examination," SEBI said in the interim order. 

 

SEBI has also issued an interim order against Gensol and its two promoter-directors, Anmol Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi, barring them from any securities market-related activity and from holding the post of director or any key managerial position in the company till further orders.  End

 

Reported by Priyasmita Dutta

Edited by Vandana Hingorani

 

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