CCI imposes penalty on Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC), and others for anti-competitive conduct

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has found that KFCC and others have acted in concert and impeded entry and screening of dubbed movies and in particular the Informant’s film –“Sathyadev IPS”  in State of Karnataka, thereby violating the provisions of section 3(1) and section 3(3)(b)  of the Competition Act, 2002.

Such anti-competitive practice was found to have an appreciable adverse effect on competition and adversely affected the consumers, producers and exhibitors of dubbed cinema in the State of Karnataka and resulted in limiting and restricting the market for dubbed cinemas there. The Commission also found that KFCC had violated the provisions of the Act, on earlier occasions too, for which it had been penalised in Case No.58 of 2012.

Resultantly, Commission, besides passing cease and desist orders against the Opposite Parties, also directed KFCC (OP-1) to bring in place a Competition Compliance Manual to educate its members about the basic tenets of competition law principles.

A penalty of ₹ 9,72,943/-(Rupees Nine Lakhs Seventy Two Thousand Nine Hundred Forty Three only), ₹ 15,121/- (Rupees Fifteen Thousand One Hundred Twenty-One only) and ₹ 2,71,286/- (Rupees Two Lakhs Seventy-One Thousand Two Hundred Eighty-Six only) was respectively imposed on KFCC (OP-1), Mr. Sa Ra. Govindu (OP-5) and Mr. Jaggesh, (OP-3) calculated @ 10% of their average income.

With regard to other Opposite Parties being Kannada Okkuta (OP-2) and Mr. Vatal Nagraj (OP-4), since they had failed to furnish their financial details despite sufficient opportunities, the Commission decided that a separate order regarding penalty would be passed in respect of these OPs in due course.

Detailed order of CCI in Case No. 42 of 2017 can be accessed on its website www.cci.gov.in