New Delhi, Oct 29 (PTI) The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Friday directed six firms and their officials to cease and desist from indulging in anti-competitive practices after finding them guilty of cartelisation in the bidding process for tenders floated by the Food Corporation of India.

The tenders pertained to procurement of low density poly ethylene (LDPE) covers.

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"The Commission concludes that OPs had indulged in cartelization and bid rigging in respect of tenders floated by FCI and other government agencies for procurement of LDPE, by means of directly or indirectly determining prices, allocating markets, co-ordinating bid response, and manipulating the bidding process," the CCI said.

OPs refer to the firms -- Shivalik Agro Poly Products Ltd, Climax Synthetics Pvt Ltd, Arun Manufacturing Services Pvt Ltd, Bag Poly International Pvt Ltd, Shalimar Plastic Industries and Dhanshree Agro Poly Product.

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The regulator has directed the firms and their respective officials "to cease and desist in the future from indulging in practices which have been found in the present order to be in contravention of the provisions of Section 3 of the Act."

Section 3 of the Competition Act, 2002 pertains to anti-competitive agreements.

The order came after Food Corporation of India (FCI) filed a complaint against the firms.

FCI had floated tenders for procurement of low density poly ethylene (LDPE) covers during the period 2005 to 2017. LDPE covers are required for safeguarding foodgrains stored in the open.

The investigating arm of CCI concluded that the firms were involved in fixing the price of LDPE covers, limiting/restricting the supply of the covers, sharing tender quantities, and thereby rigged the bids.

The firms and their officials have also been directed to ensure that their future conduct is strictly in accord with the provisions of the Act.

However, the regulator did not levy any penalty as the MSME sector in India is already under stress amid the economic situation arising from the outbreak of the pandemic.

"In such a situation, if any penalty were to be imposed on these firms, it may render these firms economically unviable and may even result in exit from the market, which would further reduce competition in a market," the regulator said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)