Background

On November 30, 2023, the CCI dismissed a complaint filed by A. Ram Babu (‘Informant’) against Indian Bank and the Reserve Bank of India (‘RBI’) (collectively, ‘Opposite Parties’) alleging contravention of Section 4 of the Competition Act. ^[1]

Allegations

The Informant made inter alia the following allegations:

i.    Practices of Indian Bank Are Unfair and Discriminatory: In this regard the Informant submitted that other banks were offering higher interest rates owing to changes in RBI’s policy. Consequently, the Informant withdrew his Fixed Deposit accounts (‘FD’) with Indian Bank and Indian Overseas Bank with the view of opening FD accounts with other banks. However, he was penalized for premature withdrawal by Indian Bank while Indian Overseas Bank did not levy any such penalty. The Informant also filed a ticket with the Indian Bank ombudsman but to no avail; and

ii.   Misuse by Indian bank: Additionally, Indian Bank is misusing its position to obtain money from the Informant.

Interim Relief: The Informant sought interim relief under Section 33 of the Act in the form of return of penalty amount deducted from the Informant’s account.

CCI’s Assessment

The CCI noted the relevant market to be the ‘Market for the provision of term deposit services in India’ (‘Relevant Market’) which comprises several players such as public sector banks, private sector banks, post-offices, and other non-banking financial companies. Accordingly, Indian Bank is not dominant in the Relevant Market.

The CCI held that in the absence of evidence of dominance of Indian Banks in the Relevant Market, the question of abuse of dominance does not arise. Accordingly, The CCI dismissed the information and closed the matter under Section 26(2) of the Competition Act (accordingly also denying the Informant’s prayer for interim relief).

[1] A. Ram Babu v. Indian Bank and Reserve Bank of India., Case No. 21 of 2023.