On July 12, 2018, CCI dismissed a reference filed by the Chief Materials Manager-I, North Western Railway (“NWR”), Jaipur, alleging contravention of Section 3 of the Competition Act, in relation to bid-rigging in tenders for procurement of railway signaling cables.[1]The informant had named 37 enterprises, all of whom were Research Designs and Standard Organization (‘RDSO’) approved suppliers of cables. It was averred that the cable suppliers had formed a cartel for supply of signaling cables to North Western Railways, and quoted high rates in eight tenders floated between 2012 and 2013 by NWR for signaling cables (‘Impugned Tenders’).CCI, having found a prima facie case, directed the DG to conduct an investigation into the alleged contravention. In its report, the DG concluded that eleven of the cable suppliers in the Impugned Tenders had manipulated the bidding process and had thus contravened the provisions of Section 3(3)(d) read with Section 3(1) of the Competition Act.In its analysis, CCI found no merit in the DG’s conclusion, and agreed with the submissions of the parties that the similar pricing in Impugned Tenders may be due to market conditions. CCI noted that the input costs were common in the market. Therefore, tender quotations invariably reflected similar prices. The same could not be regarded as an evidence of collusion. Furthermore, CCI noted that the prices of raw materials were determined by RDSO-approved vendors. Moreover, CCI found no evidence on record in relation to sharing of price sensitive information with regard to the Impugned Tenders. CCI also noted the submission of the cable suppliers that the abstentions in participation in any of the Impugned Tenders were driven by constraints such as those concerning working capital and labour, and not collusion. Furthermore, CCI found no implicit channel of collusion, such as common management and structural links between the cable suppliers.In the absence of any direct or circumstantial evidence amounting to anti-competitive agreement amongst the bidders, CCI observed that no tacit or explicit collusion between the cable suppliers was established. Accordingly, CCI held that no contravention of the provisions of Section 3(3)(a) and 3(3)(d) read with Section 3(1) of the Competition Act was made out, and dismissed the information.However, CCI advised the Railways to modify its procurement policies to harmonize it with competition law principles. CCI suggested that this could be done by reassessing the rules with respect to participation of sister concerns in tenders floated by Railways for procurement of products from various RDSO approved suppliers.[1] Reference Case No. 07 of 2013.