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TMI Blog2024 (1) TMI 1388X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... iplex screens in India, is in a dominant position in the film exhibition market and has abused its dominance by according special treatment to films of powerful and monetarily affluent production houses and constraining the entry of films by independent filmmakers. It is also stated that OP has indulged in cartelization and vertical integration by entering into business of film production, film distribution and film exhibition with the big production houses. 5. As per the Informant, his first fictional Hindi film titled 'Kya Yahi Sach Hai' and second film, 'The Indian Supari Company' suffered due to the alleged undercurrent of anti- competitive conduct by the OP, which is a result of collaboration/cooperation between big production houses and the OP, creating entry barrier for films by independent film producers. The Informant has stated that the movie 'Kya Yahi Sach Hai' received an overwhelming response on YouTube, garnering about 1.3 crore views. 6. Further, the Informant has stated that he attempted to contact the OP for striking a dialogue for the exhibition of his upcoming film in the OP's theatres, vide email dated 19.04.2022 on its authorized email address, but the same w ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ion in its favour such as, inter alia, promotion of films by multiple methods, showing of trailers free of cost for several months, according disproportionate prominence to films etc., which are not available to the independent filmmakers. 8. The Informant has also alleged violation of some other laws such as environmental, municipal laws etc. by the OP. 9. It has been stated that the film exhibition business is extremely sensitive to the intellectualism of the nation as it influences thoughts of the people, which, in turn, have a bearing on the growth of the nation. For this reason, the touchstone of competition in this sphere is very critical and thus has to be considered through an extremely strict interpretation of the provisions of the Act vis-à-vis other sectors of the economy. 10. In view of the foregoing, the Informant has prayed to the Commission for an investigation into the allegations made in the Information and inter-alia issue following directions to the OP: (i) to give concessions to all filmmakers on same terms, (ii) to make public all the terms of the agreements made with large production houses, (iii) not to enter into special tie-ups with large producti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... commercial terms public, OP has stated that privately negotiated terms (including prices etc.) are commercially sensitive and cannot be made publicly available, as sought by the Informant. OP has further stated that revenue sharing terms/percentage followed by it is known to everyone in the industry and is available in public domain. 16. With regards to allegations in relation to OP's vertical integration in the industry being anti-competitive, it has been submitted that vertical integration of enterprises is not prohibited under the provisions of the Act, unless such integration results in some preferential or discriminatory conduct towards other players. OP has further submitted that it does not offer any preferential terms to its own films and majority of OP's exhibition revenue is earned from films produced and distributed by third parties. It has also been stated that vertical integration between exhibitors and other stakeholders is fairly common in the industry. 17. OP has also submitted that allegations with regards to violation of several local and municipal laws and not promoting intellectualism of the nation are not covered within the ambit of the Act. Analysis of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ucers/distributors of the films themselves and not the exhibitors like the OP. 23. As far as allegations of discriminatory screen allocations, the Commission notes that the OP has submitted that the allocation of screens is being done following criteria such as revenue generating potential of the movie, excitement/buzz around the film, marketing, advertising and promotions done, historical data (admission/box office revenue) of films of similar genres, previous review of the film maker, selection team's estimate of box office collection, language of the film and cast & crew etc. It has further been submitted that the guiding factor for selection of films and screen allocation is maximization of footfalls and revenue. 24. The Commission is of the view that the commercial wisdom of the exhibitors is largely governed by consumer demand and unless harm to competition is apparent, any intervention will only lead to undesirable consequence by taking away the autonomy of such undertaking and substituting the decision of such entity by the decision of the regulator. In the realm of competition law, it is widely understood that firms have an autonomy to choose their trading partners as lo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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