The Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT) has asked state-run oil marketing companies — IOC, HPCL and BPCL — not to force their new customers seeking LPG connections to compulsorily buy a gas stove from their own channel partners.
Disposing of a nearly five-year-old case, the Tribunal has ruled that the interim order passed by the erstwhile MRTPC (Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission) on February 19, 2009, in this matter of alleged abuse of monopoly by oil companies would be final.
The state-run firms have also assured the tribunal that they would not compel their respective distributors against selling the products of the companies other than their channel partners for supply of products like gas stoves.
The three state-run oil market companies HPCL, IOC and BPCL are the major players in the business of providing cooking fuel LPG connections through their brands HP Gas, Indane and Bharat Gas, respectively.
The MRTPC had passed an interim order in this matter after a probe by the Director General of Investigations and Registrations (DGIR), which began way back in 2007.
The MRTPC, which was replaced by Competition Commission of India (CCI) and COMPAT in May 2009, had asked the oil market companies at that time to file an undertaking that customers should have an independent choice of purchase of stoves from any shops and not necessarily from the LPG dealers.
The companies were also asked to tell their dealers to display the same in their premises and to communicate to their new customers at the time of sanction of connections that they were not bound to make any purchase including gas stove being sold by the dealer.
Oil PSUs were also asked to give public notice about the same.
In its final order passed on August 13, 2012, the COMPAT said that it assumes that the PSUs have honoured the earlier directions, as DGIR has not shown against the same.
Earlier, the MRTPC had got complains from seven firms alleging that oil PSUs were abusing their dominant position in the market by compelling their dealers to sell the products of only their channel partners.
Consequently, MRTPC had asked its investigation arm DGIR to look into the matter.