In what seems like endless hurdles for the Jet-Etihad deal, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has slapped a penalty on Etihad for violating Section 43A of the Competition Act.
This penalty, worth Rs 1 crore, is primarily for implementing part of the commercial agreement with Jet Airways even before the CCI’s approval came in.
Also read: Jet-Etihad under CCI scanner for violation of section 43(a)The CCI was focusing on 2 main issues- the first one is the slot fail at the Heathrow Airport that was implemented between Jet and Etihad much before an approval came in from the Competition Commission.
The second bone of contention was the kind of Directors that were required on the board and the kind of nominations that were required. All of these things according to CCI happened much before they had approved this deal.
So, now Section 43A provides for a penalty of up to 1 percent of the total turnover or the profit whichever is higher. In this case it works out to Rs 1 crore.
In terms of the approval that the CCI has given, whatever the Competition Appellate Tribunal decides would be a separate matter. The CCI continuing to maintain that the deal per se would not have an adverse impact on competition.
This is just to communicate to all the companies and to Jet-Etihad in particular that if it is coming before the CCI for an approval, it must adhere to all the provisions of the Act and not implement any portion of your agreement until and unless there is a go ahead from the regulator.
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