Case No. 37 of 2014. Case: Guru Jewels Private Limited Vs MMTC Limited. Competition Commision of India
| Case Number | Case No. 37 of 2014 |
| Counsel | For Appellant: None |
| Judges | Ashok Chawla, Chairperson, S.L. Bunker, Sudhir Mital, Augustine Peter and U.C. Nahta, Members |
| Issue | Competition Act, 2002 - Sections 19(1)(a), 26(2), 3, 4 |
| Judgement Date | September 18, 2014 |
| Court | Competition Commision of India |
Order:
Order under Section 26(2) of The Competition Act, 2002
-
The present information; filed by Sri Guru Jewels Private Limited and M/S. Tushar Jewellers (henceforth, 'the Informants') as per the provisions of section 19(1)(a) of the Competition Act, 2002 (henceforth 'the Act'); relates to the alleged contravention of the provisions of sections 3 and section 4 of the Act by the Opposite Parties enlisted above in enrollment and allocation of imported gold among the jewelers and gold traders.
-
Registered with Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, DGFT; the Informants are stated to be engaged in the business of import and export of gold as well as trading of gold jewellery in the domestic and international market. The Opposite Party Nos. 1 to 12 are the nominated agencies of the government for import of gold.
-
As per the information, with a view to rationalize the import of gold, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a policy on 22.07.2013, popularly known as 20:80 policy, for regulation of import and export of gold. As per the said policy, nominated banks/agencies must ensure that at least one fifth i.e., 20% of every lot of imported gold is exclusively made available for the purpose of exports and the balance for domestic use against full upfront payment. Further, the nominated agencies shall make available gold in any form for domestic use only to entities engaged in jewellery business, bullion dealers supplying gold to jewelers and to the banks authorised to administer the Gold Deposit Scheme.
-
As per the Informants, these nominated banks/agencies have exclusive right to control the supply and distribution of imported gold among the jewelers and gold traders in the domestic market. In practice, the jewelers and gold traders interested in allocation of imported gold are required to be enrolled themselves with the nominated agencies and the nominated agencies will allocate the imported gold amongst the enrolled applicants against full upfront payment. However, no specific criteria have been prescribed by the RBI for allotment of gold among the jewelers and gold traders. These nominated agencies are entitled to receive a certain percentage as service charge for the services they rendered.
-
It is the case of the Informants that the nominated agencies/banks are either not enrolling applicants at all or enrolling them but not allocating gold to them. No reasons are being provided for the non-enrolment and non-allocation of gold...
To continue reading
Request your trial