Competition Commission looks into mechanism used by Indian state-run fuel retailers on petrol pricing

India’s Competition Commission is investigating the allegations of three private marketing firms: Reliance Industries Ltd., Shell India, and Essar Oil Ltd., that the country’s three state-run oil companies are indulging in “restrictive and unfair trade practices and cartelization.” The competition watchdog has asked the state-run oil firms to provide details on the mechanism they have adopted to increase and decrease petrol prices.
 
Currently, petrol prices are generally raised and reduced in unison by the three state- run fuel retailers, namely Indian Oil Corp. Ltd., Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd.
 
The three private fuel firms had alleged that the “cartelization” adopted by the state-run fuel firms has led to huge losses and has killed competition in the sector, destroying the market share of private players. (January 7, 2013)