The Competition Commission has ordered a detailed probe against the Aditya Birla group firm, Grasim Industries, for alleged discriminatory pricing ways in the sale of viscose staple fibre.
It has been alleged that the company offered different discounts to different customers for the sale of viscose staple fibre (VSF).
The watchdog has called for an probe by the director general (DG) — its investigation arm — after prima facie finding evidence of competition norms violations.
Apart from allegations of the company selling VSF at higher rates to domestic customers compared to foreign ones, it was alleged that the firm controlled volume of VSF production in the local market as well as arbitrarily cut down production to increase prices.
The CCI found that Grasim is a dominant player in the VSF market.
The regulator said it “is of the prima facie view that OP 2 (Grasim Industries) appears to be imposing unfair and discriminatory pricing on the informant and certain other textile manufacturers and leveraging its dominant position in the relevant market of VSF in the downstream market of textile products”.
