Queries sent to Swiggy and Zomato remained unanswered. File
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement

The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), which represents half a million eateries nationwide, said it will approach Competition Commission of India (CCI) over “private labelling” by Zomato and Swiggy and their foray into quick commerce food delivery via Bistro by Blinkit and Snacc, respectively.

In an interview to PTI, NRAI president Sagar Daryani raised concerns over “anti-competitive” practices of food delivery aggregators, “data masking” and “deep discounting”.

Regulate Swiggy, Zomato delivery partners, insists plea in Madras High Court

“We will be adding to our petition in CCI about them (Zomato, Swiggy) doing private labels through Bistro and Snacc,” Mr. Daryani shared.

He said NRAI will also request CCI to investigate complaints received from its member restaurants that Zomato and Swiggy were procuring from third party commercial kitchens for Zomato Everyday and Swiggy Daily. Queries sent to Swiggy and Zomato remained unanswered.

Mr. Daryani said NRAI was “very concerned” as many restaurants were already shutting down with several workers losing their livelihoods.

Zomato’s Q3 net profit declines 57.2% to ₹59 crore

Addressing an NRAI townhall with restaurant industry stakeholders on Wednesday (January 22, 2025), Mr. Daryani suggested that restaurants need to look at a “third alternative” like ONDC and could replicate the success achieved through a pilot in Bengaluru, throughout India.

“We have to look at a third alternative now whether that is ONDC or something else.. We have to step up the gas in working towards that… We had a meeting with ONDC yesterday. In a city such as Bengaluru, 20% of the orders come via ONDC. It is not a bad start. Why can’t we replicate what happened in Bengaluru for the rest of the country.”

During the townhall, top restaurateurs raised concerns over the entry of food delivery aggregators such as Zomato and Swiggy into private labelling and dining-in, and stressed the need for alternatives in the market.

New Delhi:

In a respite for Mark Zuckerberg-run Meta, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Thursday stayed the five-year ban imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on WhatsApp for its data-sharing practices.

The NCLAT bench, led by Justice Ashok Bhushan, said such a ban could disrupt WhatsApp’s business model in the country. WhatsApp has more than 500 million monthly active users in India.

The appellate tribunal also directed Meta to deposit 50 per cent of the Rs 213 core penalty imposed by the CCI, within two weeks.

The social media giant has already paid 25 per cent of the fine.

Last week, the NCLAT had reserved its order on a plea by Meta and WhatsApp seeking a stay on the CCI order that imposed a penalty of Rs 213 crore for “abuse of dominant position”.

According to the tribunal, the upcoming data protection law in India could address concerns related to data privacy.

WhatsApp’s 2021 Privacy Policy allows for user data to be shared with group cos like Meta, and Insta without an “opt out” option.

Earlier this month, social media platform Meta moved the NCLAT against the CCI order. In November last year, the competition watchdog directed WhatsApp to not share user data collected on its platform with other Meta products or companies for advertising purposes for a period of five years, along with imposing a penalty of Rs 213.14 crore on Meta for allegedly abusing its dominant position.

Meta informed the NCLAT that the CCI order has wide ramifications for the industry as a whole and therefore, an urgent hearing in the matter will be required.

Last year, after the CCI directed WhatsApp not to share user data collected on its platform with other Meta products or companies for advertising purposes for a period of five years, the social media platform said it disagreed with the CCI’s decision and planned to appeal.

The CCI began a probe in March 2021 into WhatsApp’s revised privacy policy, which enabled mandatory data sharing with Facebook (now Meta) and its companies, along with an expanded scope of data collection.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

On November 18, 2024, the Competition Commission of India imposed a penalty of ₹213.14 crore on Meta for unfair business ways with respect to WhatsApp privacy policy update done in 2021.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Meta Platforms Inc on Monday (January 6, 2025) moved corporate appellate tribunal National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) against the order passed by fair trade regulator CCI, which imposed a penalty of ₹213.14 crore for abuse of its dominant position.

The petition was mentioned before a NCLAT bench which also comprised its Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan.

Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Mukul Rohatgi appearing for Meta requested for an urgent hearing in the matter considering the importance and nature of the matter.

A three-member bench, which also consisted of technical members Barun Mitra and Arun Baroka, directed listing the petition on January 16 for hearing.

On November 18, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) had imposed a penalty of ₹213.14 crore on social media major Meta for unfair business ways with respect to WhatsApp privacy policy update done in 2021.

Besides, the competition watchdog has directed Meta to cease and desist from anti-competitive practices.

Meta and WhatsApp have also been asked to implement certain behavioural remedies within a defined timeline to address the anti-competition issues, according to a CCI order.

The regulator has called for implementing various remedial measures, including barring WhatsApp from sharing data collected on its platform with other Meta companies or Meta company products for advertising purposes for five years.

Among other directions, CCI has said that sharing of user data collected on WhatsApp with other Meta companies or Meta company products for purposes other than for providing WhatsApp services shall not be made a condition for users to access WhatsApp service in India.

New Delhi:

After the Competition Commission imposed a Rs 213-crore penalty on Meta in relation to WhatsApp privacy policy, the company said it disagrees with the watchdog’s decision and plans to appeal.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Monday asked WhatsApp to refrain from sharing user data with other applications, owned by Meta, for advertising purposes for a period of five years.

India’s competition watchdog imposed a penalty of Rs 213.14 crore on the social media giant for unfair business ways with respect to WhatsApp privacy policy update done in 2021.

Besides, the competition watchdog has directed Meta to cease and desist from anti-competitive practices.

Also Read: Meta Fined $25.4 Million By India, WhatsApp Data Sharing Blocked For 5 Years

Meta and WhatsApp have also been asked to implement certain behavioural remedies within a defined timeline to address the anti-competition issues, according to a CCI order.

A Meta spokesperson said that the company disagrees with the CCI’s decision and plans to appeal.

“As a reminder, the 2021 update did not change the privacy of people’s personal messages and was offered as a choice for users at the time. We also ensured no one would have their accounts deleted or lose functionality of the WhatsApp service because of this update,” the Meta spokesperson said.

Meta further said the update was about introducing optional business features on WhatsApp, and provided further transparency about data collection and usage.

The Meta spokesperson added since that time, WhatsApp has been incredibly valuable to people and businesses, enabling organisations and government institutions to deliver citizen services through COVID and beyond, and as well as supporting small businesses in furtherance of the India economy.

“WhatsApp is able to do all of this because it offers services supported by Meta. We are committed to finding a path forward that allows us to continue providing the experiences that people and businesses have come to expect from us,” the Meta spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, CCI has barred WhatsApp from sharing data collected on its platform with other Meta companies or Meta company products for advertising purposes for five years.

On sharing of WhatsApp user data for purposes other than advertising, the regulator said WhatsApp’s policy should include a detailed explanation of the user data shared with other Meta companies or Meta company products.

“This explanation should specify the purpose of data sharing, linking each type of data to its corresponding purpose,” it said.

The watchdog also said that sharing of user data collected on WhatsApp with other Meta companies or Meta company products for purposes other than for providing WhatsApp services shall not be made a condition for users to access WhatsApp Service in India.

On sharing of WhatsApp user data for purposes other than for providing WhatsApp services, CCI said all users in India (including users who have accepted 2021 update) will be provided with the choice to manage such data sharing by way of an opt-out option prominently through an in-app notification. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The parties have given an undertaking that they will not increase the advertisement rates to an unreasonable level on their TV and streaming platforms for the ICC and IPL events till the current rights are held by them. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Tuesday (October 22, 2024) published the 48-page detailed order approving the mega media assets merger of Reliance Industries and Walt Disney, entailing various conditions, including divestment of seven TV channels.

As part of seeking the regulator’s approval, the parties have voluntarily agreed that they will not bundle TV ad slots for IPL, ICC and BCCI cricketing rights till the end of existing rights.

Also, the parties will sell seven TV channels, including Hungama and Super Hungama.

Among other conditions, the companies have voluntarily agreed that they will not bundle together the TV ad slot sales for all three cricketing rights available with them — IPL, ICC and BCCI — for the remaining tenure of the existing rights.

“The parties will not bundle together OTT ad slot sales for all three cricketing rights available with the parties i.e. IPL, ICC and BCCI for the balance tenure of the existing rights,” the 48-page order said.

The parties have given an undertaking that they will not increase the advertisement rates to an unreasonable level on their TV and streaming platforms for the ICC and IPL events till the current rights are held by them.

On August 28, CCI said it had approved the merger of media assets of Reliance Industries and The Walt Disney Co to create the country’s largest media empire worth over ₹70,000 crore.

The deal, announced earlier this year, had faced scrutiny by the anti-trust regulator, and the approval has come after the parties proposed certain modifications to the original transaction structure.

Mankind Pharma logo. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Mankind Pharma Ltd. said it had obtained regulatory approvals including the approval from the Competition Commission of India for 100% acquisition of Bharat Serums and Vaccines Ltd. (BSV). 

“The Proposed Transaction is subject to completion of remaining customary conditions precedent as contemplated in the Share Purchase Agreements,” the company said in a filing with exchanges.

The company hadannounced the execution of the Share Purchase Agreement dated July 25, 2024, amongst the company, BSV and the sellers Ansamira Ltd. and Miransa Ltd., (affiliates of funds managed by Advent International), and certain minority shareholders i.e. Bhaskar Iyer and Abhijit Mukherjee for the proposed acquisition of 100% stake in BSV for ₹13,630 crore.

Samsung, Xiaomi and other smartphone companies colluded with Amazon and Walmart’s Flipkart to exclusively launch products on the e-commerce firms’ Indian websites in breach of antitrust laws, according to regulatory reports seen by Reuters.

Antitrust investigations conducted by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) have found that Amazon and Flipkart violated local competition laws by giving preference to select sellers, prioritising certain listings, and steeply discounting products, hurting other companies, Reuters reported this week.

The CCI’s 1,027-page report on Amazon also said the Indian units of five companies – Samsung, Xiaomi, Motorola, Realme and OnePlus – were “involved in the practice of exclusive” phone launches in “collusion” with Amazon and its affiliates, breaking competition law.

In Flipkart’s case, a 1,696-page CCI report said the Indian units of Samsung, Xiaomi, Motorola, Vivo, Lenovo and Realme conducted similar practices.

The inclusion of smartphone makers like Samsung and Xiaomi in the case could increase their legal and compliance headaches.

“Exclusivity in business is anathema. Not only is it against free and fair competition but also against the interest of consumers,” CCI’s additional director general GV Siva Prasad wrote in the Amazon and Flipkart reports, in identical findings.

Reuters is first to report the smartphone companies have been accused of anticompetitive behavior in the CCI’s reports which are dated August 9 and are not public.

Xiaomi declined to comment, while the other smartphone makers did not respond to requests for comment.

Amazon, Flipkart and the CCI did not respond, and have not so far commented on the reports’ findings.

Both the CCI reports said that during investigations Amazon and Flipkart “deliberately downplayed” allegations of exclusive launches, but officials found the practice was “rampant”.

Counterpoint Research data shows that South Korea’s Samsung and China’s Xiaomi are two of India’s biggest smartphone players, together holding an almost 36% market share, with China’s Vivo on 19%.

India’s e-retail market is set to exceed $160 billion by 2028, up from $57-60 billion in 2023, consultancy firm Bain estimates.

The investigation findings are a major setback for Amazon and Flipkart in a key growth market where they have faced the ire of small retailers for years for hurting their offline businesses.

The CCI has also said both companies used their foreign investments to provide subsidised rates for services like warehousing and marketing to a select number of sellers.

ONLINE SALES BOOM

Some of the smartphone companies – Xiaomi, Samsung, OnePlus, Realme and Motorola – have been ordered to submit their financial statements for three fiscal years to 2024, certified by their auditor, to the CCI, according to an internal CCI document dated Aug. 28, also seen by Reuters.

The investigation into Amazon, Flipkart and their sellers was triggered in 2020 by a complaint from an affiliate of India’s biggest retailer association, the Confederation of All India Traders, which has 80 million members.

The CCI will in coming weeks review any objections to its findings from Amazon, Flipkart, the retailer association, and the smartphone companies, and could potentially impose fines along with mandating companies to change their business practices, people familiar with the matter said.

Indian retailers have repeatedly accused Amazon and Flipkart, and smartphone companies, of exclusive phone launches online, saying shopkeepers suffered as they didn’t get the latest models and customers looked for them on the shopping websites.

“Exclusive launches had not only severely affected the ordinary sellers on the platform but also the brick-and-mortar retailers who were provided mobile phones at a much later date,” both CCI reports said, citing analyses of data from smartphone companies.

Research firm Datum Intelligence estimates that 50% of phone sales were online last year, up from 14.5% in 2013. Flipkart had a 55% share in online phone sales in 2023, and Amazon 35%.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

 The CCI did not disclose voluntary modifications in the original deal made by the two parties.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Competition Commission of India on Wednesday (August 28, 2024) said it has approved the merger of the media assets of Reliance Industries and Walt Disney Co to create the country’s largest media empire.

The deal, announced six months ago, faced scrutiny by the anti-trust regulator and the approval has come after the parties proposed certain modifications to the original transaction structure.

In a post on X, the regulator said it has cleared the “proposed combination involving Reliance Industries Limited, Viacom18 Media Private Limited, Digital18 Media Limited, Star India Private Limited and Star Television Productions Limited, subject to the compliance of voluntary modifications”.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI), however, did not disclose voluntary modifications in the original deal made by the two parties.

Under the deal, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries and its affiliates will hold 63.16 per cent of the combined entity that will house two streaming services and 120 television channels.

Walt Disney will hold the remaining 36.84% stake in the combined entity, which will also be India’s largest media house.

Reliance Industries has also agreed to invest close to ₹11,500 crore into the joint venture to give it the muscle to fight rivals like Japan’s Sony and Netflix.

Nita Ambani, wife of billionaire and Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani, will head the joint venture, while Uday Shankar will be the vice chairperson.

Shankar is a former top Disney executive and has a joint venture with James Murdoch called Bodhi Tree.

CCI had raised various queries related to the deal, particularly with respect to the proposed combined entity’s cricket broadcasting rights and OTT presence amid anti-competitive concerns.

As per regulations, CCI has to pass a prima facie order within 30 calendar days of the merger being notified to the regulator. However, it has the power to conduct an in-depth inquiry to ascertain possible anti-competitive issues, and in that case, there will be a wider public consultation.

Merger activities in the fast-growing and highly competitive media and entertainment space are slowly gaining pace amid a consolidation trend to stay financially healthy.

Earlier this year, the much-hyped merger involving Sony and Zee failed due to multiple issues, and on Tuesday, the two companies announced that the dispute between them had been settled amicably.

Media ventures of Reliance are currently housed in Network 18, which owns TV18 news channels as well as a plethora of entertainment (under the ‘Colors’ brand) and sports channels. NW18 also has stakes in moneycontrol.com, and bookmyshow and publishes magazines.

Its subsidiary NW18 owns the news channels CNBC/CNNNews.

Reliance separately owns a movie production arm — JioStudios, and majority stakes in two listed cable distribution companies Den and Hathway.

Disney + Hotstar was launched in India in 2020, post the acquisition of the entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox at a valuation of $71.3 billion, thereby taking over the operations of Star India and Hotstar. It housed entertainment and cinema channels, such as StarPlus and StarGold as well as sports channels like Star Sports.

While Disney + Hotstar rapidly increased their subscriber base initially with the streaming rights of cricket matches (IPL, World Cup), it lost the bid for the digital streaming rights in the 2023-27 cycle, which was won by Reliance-backed Viacom18 for $720 billion, 12.92% higher than what Star India had paid on an average per match value.

The CCI has dismissed four petitions of Indian app companies filed against Google’s new Play Store billing policy to levy an 11 to 26% charge on in-app payments. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Fair trade regulator CCI on March 20 dismissed four petitions of Indian app companies filed against Google’s new Play Store billing policy to levy an 11 to 26% charge on in-app payments.

Indian-origin app firms alleged that Google’s Play Store payment policies are anti-competitive.

However, CCI made clear that nothing stated in this order shall be as tantamount to a final expression of opinion on the merits of the case, and the Director General will conduct the investigation without being swayed in any manner whatsoever by the observations made herein.

“The commission is of the view that the informants have failed to meet the necessary criteria for grant of interim relief as propounded by the Supreme Court.

“The informants have not been able to project any higher level of prima facie case warranting a positive direction as sought for by the informants at the interim stage,” CCI said in its order.

The complainants were Anupam Mittal’s People Interactive India Pvt Ltd, Mebigo Labs, the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF) and the Indian Digital Media Industry Foundation (IDMIF).

The petitions were seeking the regulator to restrain Google from collecting any fee for transactions involving paid downloads or in-app purchases on apps offering digital products/ services.

While there may be concerns about the fairness of Google’s fee structure as outlined by the regulator in its prima facie order dated March 15, it is essential to recognise the costs and responsibilities associated with maintaining and operating app stores, CCI noted.

In its order, the regulator stated, “Informants have not been able to demonstrate a case in their favour for grant of interim relief for complete restraint on Google from the collection of its fee”.

CCI also said that no case whatsoever has been made out by the informants, which warrants a grant of interim relief. Accordingly, the applications stand dismissed.

Indian apps representative body Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) said it is concerned about the high commission imposed during in-app purchases that are not in the best interest of our nation’s digital entrepreneurs.

“These rates, ranging from 11 to 26 per cent, are significantly higher. The rates should be reconsidered and mutually favourable to both. This model will support the growth and sustainability of India’s digital economy. We trust the judicial process and await further hearings with the hope that the best interests of the Indian app development community will be prioritised by the Indian judiciary,” ADIF Associate Director Prateek Jain said.

The order came after the Competition Commission of India (CCI), on March 15, ordered a probe against Google for alleged discriminatory practices with respect to its Play Store pricing policy after finding a prima facie violation of the competition law.

The order for detailed investigation comes less than two years after CCI penalised and passed various directions against Google regarding Play Store policies.

The regulator’s decision came on a raft of complaints that Google’s updated payment policies in relation to its proprietary app store — Google Play Store — which is alleged to be in violation of the competition law.

The order also comes after Google removed some apps from the Play Store over payment issues and later reinstated them.

In their complaints, they alleged that the payment policies are stated to be impacting several stakeholders, including app developers, payment processors and users alike.