Competition Commission Rejects Price-Fixing Allegations Against Uber and Ola

A case brought by a private individual against the holding companies of the two firms claimed that their algorithmic pricing model 'takes away the liberty of individual drivers to compete with each other and thus, amounts to price fixing'.

Alasdair Pal

competition commission rejects price fixing allegations against uber and ola

An employee speaks over his phone as he sits at the front desk inside the office of Ola cab service in Gurugram, April 20, 2016. Credit: REUTERS/Anindito Mukherjee/File Photo

New Delhi: Ride-sharing firms Uber and Ola did not break price-fixing rules, the Competition Council of India (CCI) said in a ruling issued late on Tuesday in response to a complaint about their technological pricing strategy.

A case brought by a private individual against the holding companies of the two firms claimed that their algorithmic pricing model "takes away the liberty of individual drivers to compete with each other and thus, amounts to price fixing".

In its judgement, the CCI ruled that there was no evidence the two companies had conspired to fix prices.

Also Read: Would an Ola-Uber Merger in India Get the Competition Commission's Approval?

"The drivers may have acceded to the algorithmically-determined prices by the platform (but) this cannot be said to be amounting to collusion between the drivers," the CCI said.

Uber and Ola have also faced allegations from domestic rival Meru that investments in both companies by Japan's SoftBank was evidence that they were abusing their market position.

Uber declined to comment. Ola did not respond to requests for comment.

(Reuters)

This article went live on November seventh, two thousand eighteen, at twenty minutes past four in the afternoon.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.