The CCI passed an Order finding 17 electrical contractors liable for bid rigging in 73 tenders floated by the Assam Police Housing Corporation Limited. Following an investigation, the CCI found that the contractors had divided the tenders and colluded through cover bidding and bid rotation arrangements, in contravention of Section 3 of the Competition Act. The sole proprietors of each of the 17 firms were also held to be personally liable under Section 48 of the Competition Act.

The cartel was established based on identical bid prices, along with circumstantial evidence (or ‘plus factors’) such as replication of errors in the submissions by the bidders, common IP addresses, sequentially numbered demand drafts from the same bank, and call records showing pre-bid contact.

Despite concluding that the bidders had cartelised, the CCI refrained from imposing penalties, noting that each of the bidders was a small business, with meagre revenues, and would be rendered unviable if they were subject to fines. The CCI did, however, include a sharp warning against recidivism in its Order.