CCI notes oil cos' 'action-in-unison' on petrol prices

"We have taken a note of it," CCI chairman Ashok Chawla said, in reply to question in this regard at a programme here. As the Competition Act also applies to the government- controlled companies, what about oil companies which act in unison to control petrol prices even after international prices are falling, an ICAI member had asked.

The PSU oil firms, which generally revise petrol rates on 1st and 16th of every month based on average import cost and forex rates of the previous fortnight, have skipped changing rates recently.

The Indian basket of Brent crude has been on a downward spiral since the past few weeks and fell to USD 88 a barrel yesterday. It recovered a bit today, at around US 89.7 a barrel. The crude was trading at around USD 120 in
February-March this year.

The oil companies have not reduced the petrol prices yet as the imports are getting costlier due to the falling rupee. Tyre is one of the other prominent sectors which are under CCI's watch for alleged cartelisation.

"Tyre sector we have been looking at. The study on the tyre sector is at a very advanced stage," Chawla told reporters, on the sidelines of his address at Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration (SPIPA) on `Competition, Economic Policy and Common Man'.