FEDERATION OF INDIAN PUBLISHERS Vs. A.H. WHEELER AND CO. PVT. LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE present information was filed by the Federation of Indian Publishers ("the Informant") under Section 19(1)(a) of the Competition Act, 2002 (the Act) against M/s. A.H. Wheeler and Co. Pvt. Ltd. (the Opposite Party -I) alleging inter -alia abuse of dominant position in contravention of Section 4 of the Act in the market of the retail sale of books, newspapers, magazines, periodicals etc. in different languages at different railway stations in India. The Ministry of Railways has been made a formal party (Opposite Party -2). The Informant claims to be a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 the representative body of publishers in India. The members of the Informant are engaged in publication of books and journals of various subjects including literature, history, children books, fiction, national integration, religion etc. in all languages including English, Hindi and regional languages. The Opposite Party -I, a company incorporated under the provisions of the Companies Act, 1913 has been engaged in the business of retail sale of books, newspapers, magazines, periodicals etc. in all Indian languages and some European languages at different railway stations in India.

(2.) THE Informant submitted that the book stalls operating at various railway stations in India were regulated by the OP -2. As per the Bookstall policy, the book stalls set up at railway platforms were classified into Category A to Category E, depending on annual earnings of the stalls. The market share of the Opposite Party 1, in terms of total bookstalls on railways stations in India, was more than 50% while in terms of share of royalty paid to OP 2, its market share was 80%. It was therefore alleged that the Opposite Party 1 was in a dominant position in the market of retail sale of books, newspapers, magazine, periodicals etc. in all Indian languages and other European languages at the railway stations in India.

(3.) THE Informant alleged that Opposite Party -I was a dominant player in the books market at Railway platform and was abusing its position of dominance in the relevant market in the following manner: