CCI urges film bodiesand trade associations to impose self-regulatory do’s and don’ts to alignbusiness practices with tenets of competition
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has advisedfilm bodies and trade associations to put in place self-regulatory do’s anddon’ts to align their business practices with the tenets of competition andfree play of market forces.
Speaking at FICCI FRAMES2012 here on Friday, Mr. AshokChawla, Chairman, CCI, urged entertainment and media enterprises and relatedtrade associations to initiate competition compliance programme. Trade bodiescould be used for price coordination or market allocation amongst membercompanies, he cautioned.
A competition complianceprogramme would include imparting awareness and training to employees who mayengage themselves or are exposed to anti competitive conducts. It not onlyreduces the risk of contraventions, but also facilitates timely detections andcan be useful in mitigating penalties by suggesting disclosure of informationat the first opportunity. To make the programme really effective, a continuousreview is essential. It also requires continuous backup from senior managementwhich should be visible and reinforced from time to time.
He said CCI encouragesmember companies of trade associations and non-member companies to bring beforethe commission issues related to market practices so that the way forward couldbe found in a manner that does not disrupt market forces.
The restriction of releaseof films other than theatres, he said, was an anti-competition practice, addingthat “collective boycott in the market has no place in the competitionlexicon.”
CCI, Mr. Chawla said, caninitiate penal action in cases of anti-trust and ant-competition practices andrestrictions on freedom of trade. Mergers & Acquisitions and Combinationsthat could affect the free play of market forces need mandatory approval of theCCI. The end objective of CCI was to ensure benefit to the consumers throughefficiency, cost reduction and better quality of goods and services.
