Minimum Resale Price: CCI Dismisses Snapdeal's Complaint Against KAFF Appliances

New Delhi, January 15: The Competition Commission of India Tuesday dismissed e-commerce platform Snapdeal's complaint alleging unfair business practices against KAFF Appliances with regard to the imposition of minimum resale price maintenance (RPM). The fair trade regulator dismissed the complaint by Jasper Infotech Pvt Ltd, which owns and operates e-commerce platform Snapdeal, as the "conduct of KAFF did not demonstrate any adverse effect on the competition".

The complaint was filed by Jasper in 2014 after it alleged that KAFF was attempting to impose a price restriction on the online platform to make sales at a minimum price and threatened to ban online sales if such prices were not maintained. Following this, the commission had directed its investigation arm, director general, to investigate whether the minimum resale price imposed by KAFF on its dealers contravened the Competition Act. The director general submitted the main investigation report and consequently the supplementary investigation report to ascertain whether KAFF imposed price restriction. Delhi High Court Restrains Entities from Using Snapdeal's Trademark.

In a 28-page order, CCI said based on both the reports, the commission did not find any evidence of adverse effect on competition. Further, the presence of a large number of dealers who were competing with each other suggests a fair degree of intra-brand competition, Competition Commission Of India (CCI) noted. Accordingly, CCI dismissed the complaint as it found no contravention of Section 3 of the Act. Section 3 pertains to anti-abusive agreements.