The Competition Commission of India dismissed the complaint against PayTm, Aditya Birla Finance, Bharti Airtel, Central Bank while observing that the Information appears to be individual/contractual disputes.
The Commission observed that alleged disparate disputes raised in the Information appear to be individual/contractual disputes regarding alleged mis-representation/ mis-selling/ deficiency in service against various OPs and do not involve competition concerns as such. Further, no material has been provided by the Informant to indicate violation of any provision of the Act.
The bench said that the nature of disputes raised in the matter do not fall under the ambit of the Act and for redressal of the said grievances, remedy(ies), if any, may lie before an appropriate forum, in accordance with law.
The bench viewed that no prima facie case of contravention of provisions of the Act is made out against any of the OPs in the matter and decided to close the matter forthwith in terms of the provisions of Section 26(2) of the Act.
Facts
The Information has been filed by Col. Arvind Kumar under Section 19(1) (a) of the Competition Act, 2002 against One97 Communications Ltd, Aditya Birla Finance Limited, Bharti Airtel Limited and Central Bank of India, alleging abuse of dominance and anti-competitive practices in violation of the provisions of the Act.
As per the information, the Informant has been using the payment services of OP-1 since many years, including mobile wallet and UPI ID. It is stated that in April 2022, the Informant used Uber Application to travel in Gurugram for which he had set OP-1 wallet as his fare payment option. However, OP-1 Application failed to pay the fare from his mobile wallet with OP-1 despite there being sufficient balance. It also failed to deduct amount from his savings bank account in OP-4 linked with OP-1’s mobile wallet. After repeated attempts, OP-1 Application sent the Informant a notification to allow OP-1 to make payments immediately up to a limit of INR 60,000/- and recover the same from him later. It is stated that the Informant allowed OP-1 to pay the fare and then it displayed a postpaid limit of INR 60,000/- minus the cab fare.
However, after some transactions made through OP-1 Application, it displayed the name of OP-2 as the lender. It is further stated that no information regarding loan facility or applicable interest rate or terms of the purported loan by OP-2 was given to the Informant earlier and he had never consented to enter into any agreement or arrangement with OP-2. It is alleged by the Informant that OP-1 arbitrarily displayed insufficient balance and forced him to pay via OP-2 postpaid loan facility through OP-1’s app. The Informant kept on paying the Paytm Postpaid dues regularly whenever it was displayed.
It is stated that after some time, the Informant started getting calls over phone from OP-2 regarding recovery of purported outstanding loan amount including the principal amount and interest amount with warning that otherwise services to the Informant would be stopped. The Informant told OP-2 representatives not to call him as he had never availed loan from their company and to approach OP-1 in case of any outstanding problem. However, he kept on getting calls from OP-2.
Based on the averments, the Informant has alleged that OP-1 has entered into exclusive dealing arrangement with OP-2 and is using anti-competitive practices to compel its consumers to opt for the services of OP-2. This agreement restricts his choices as a consumer and limits competition in the market. OP-1, being a dominant player in the digital payment market, abused its position by forcing the Informant into a transaction with OP-2 without his prior knowledge or consent. Further all OPs have abused their respective dominant positions in the market.
Case Information
Case Name: Col. Arvind Kumar v/s One97 Communications Ltd.
Judicial Level & Location : Competition Commission of India
Case Number : Case No. 13 of 2024
Date of Decision : 26/07/2024
Decision in favor of: Respondent
Judges: Ms. Ravneet Kaur Chairperson Mr. Anil Agrawal Member Ms. Sweta Kakkad Member Mr. Deepak Anurag Member
