CCI holds Gujarat Gas not in dominant position; Amarchand (Mumbai), Vinod Dhall & TTA represent

The Competition Commission of India yesterday disposed of a complaint filed by Saint Gobain Glass India against Gujarat Gas Company alleging abuse of its dominant position in the market..Amarchand Mangaldas (Mumbai) led by Competition Partner Nisha Kaur Uberoi represented Gujarat Gas Company through Senior Advocate Ramji Srinivasan. Vinod Dhall & Talwar Thakore Associates acted for the informant Saint Gobain India through Senior Advocates Amit Sibal and Parag Tripathi..The Director General of the CCI had earlier filed a report stating that Gujarat Gas had violated provisions of the Competition Act..However, disposing of the matter CCI in its order said,.“No case of contravention of the provisions of…the (Competition) Act is made out against Gujarat Gas and the matter is ordered to be closed forthwith”..CCI observed that various companies were operating in the space of production, transmission and distribution of natural gas throughout the country..The CCI stated that market share of Gujarat Gas calculated by the Director General did not depict an accurate picture of the company’s actual market share. It was held,.“…the Opposite Party, merely on the basis of questionable higher market share, (based on the volume and value of sales of gas) cannot be considered to be in a dominant position in the relevant market…the presence of two heavy weights, i.e., IOCL and GAIL commanding consistently close second and third rank is definitely a factor which would constrain the behaviour of the Opposite Party (Gujarat Gas).”