Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. Successfully Represents REC Power Distribution Company Limited before the Competition Commission of India (CCI)

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co acted as the legal advisor to REC Power Distribution Company Limited (RECPDCL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), against allegations of it leveraging its association with REC to secure work in the market for consultancy services for financing of rural electrification projects. The CCI disagreed with the Director General’s investigative report, and held that there was no evidence to establish that RECPDCL’s conduct was abusive.

The Competition Law Practice Team of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co team was led by Ms. Pallavi Shroff, Regional Managing Partner and included Mr. Naval Satarawala Chopra, Partner, Mr. Rohan Arora, Senior Associate, and Mr. Abhijeet Sinha Senior Associate.

The CCI found that there was no evidence to establish that RECPDCL used any dominant position to secure work in the downstream market and that RECPDCL’s conduct did not result in any denial of market access. The CCI’s decision is important as it confirms globally accepted principles in assessing leveraging claims which requires that explicit conduct be established to hold an enterprise guilty.

Accordingly the CCI closed the matter through its order dated 5 May 2016. As the investigative wing, the office of the Director General (DG) found a violation and the CCI disagreed with these findings, the final order is not appealable to the Competition Appellate Tribunal.

The case arose from an information filed by an anonymous informant against RECPDCL alleging contraventions of certain provision of the Competition Act, 2002 (Competition Act). The informant had alleged that RECPDCL leveraged its association with REC to secure work in the downstream market for consultancy services for securing financing for rural electrification projects.

In January 2015, the CCI prima facie found merit in the allegations of the Informant and had directed an investigation by the DG into contraventions of Sections 3(4) and 4 of the Competition Act. The DG found that the REC/RECPDCL group was using its position of dominance in the market for financing of rural electrification projects under RGGVY/DDUGJY to protect its market for consultancy services for rural electrification projects under RGGVY/DDUGJY in violation of Sections 4(2)(e) of the Competition Act and the conduct of REC/RECPDCL resulted in a denial of market access to providers of consultancy services in violation of Section 4(2)(c) of the Competition Act.

About Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas is one of India’s leading full service law firms. Founded on almost a century of legal achievement, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas reconstituted in May 2015. Its mission is to ‘enable business by providing solutions as trusted advisors through excellence, responsiveness, innovation and collaboration’.

The Firm is known for its exceptional Merger & Acquisition, Private Equity, Competition Law, Dispute Resolution, Capital Markets and Project & Project Finance practices globally.

The Firm has been at the helm of major headline transactions and litigation in all segments of industry, besides advising major multi-national corporates on their entry into India and their business strategy.

The Firm has more than 390 lawyers, including 70 partners at its offices in six cities across India, which include – New Delhi, Mumbai, Gurgaon, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata.