SC upholds CCI order dismissing complaints of anti-competitive practices by Ola, Uber

The Supreme Court on December 15 upheld the Competition Commission of India (CCI) order which dismissed the complaints of cartelisation and anti-competitive practices by cab regulators Ola and Uber.

A three-judge bench of Justices RF Nariman, KM Joseph, and Krishna Murari also set aside the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) finding that the informant in the case, Samir Agarwal, had no locus standi to move to the CCI, reported the Live Law.

"When the CCI performs inquisitorial, as opposed to adjudicatory functions, the doors of approaching the CCI and the appellate authority, i.e., the NCLAT, must be kept wide open in public interest, so as to subserve the high purpose of the act," the legal website quoted the bench as saying.

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Earlier, Agarwal had approached the CCI with an allegation that the algorithmic pricing adopted by Ola and Uber takes away individual drivers' liberty to compete with each other. He also alleged that this amounts to price fixing by aggregators which is in contravention to the provision of Section 3 of the ACT.

Following this, the CCI stated that on the basis of personalised information of riders along with other factors including traffic situation, festivals, etc., prices were fixed determining the demand-supply situation. The NCLAT too had dismissed the appeal stating Agarwal had no locus standi.