CCI imposes ₹138.85 crore penalty on HP India over cartelisation in PC, print supplies business

The regulator found HP India influenced reseller bidding practices and played a central role in anti-competitive conduct involving government procurement, raising compliance concerns for vendors and channel partners.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed penalties totalling ₹138.85 crore on HP India across two separate cases involving cartelisation and anti-competitive practices in the sale and supply of personal system products and print consumables.

The regulator has imposed a penalty of ₹126.87 crore on HP India in a case involving personal system products and an additional penalty of ₹11.98 crore in a separate case involving toner cartridges and other consumables used with print hardware products.

Across the two cases, CCI found 21 resellers to have colluded with HP India and imposed combined penalties of approximately ₹3.52 crore on them.

The regulator has also directed HP India and the resellers involved in both cases to cease and desist from the anti-competitive conduct.

Both proceedings originated from lesser penalty applications filed by HP India under Section 46 of the Competition Act, where companies can disclose cartel activity and cooperate with investigations.

Personal systems case

In the personal systems case, CCI found that HP India dictated bid prices to certain resellers and influenced their participation in Government e-Marketplace (GeM) tenders.

According to the regulator, HP India withheld reseller authorisations to manipulate participation in tenders and benefit itself in the bidding process.

CCI found five resellers, including Delphi Infosolutions, Digitech Computers, Orbit Techsol, Hind Technocare and Krishna Computers, acted in coordination with HP India.

The regulator concluded that the conduct violated Section 3(3)(d) read with Section 3(1) of the Competition Act, which deals with anti-competitive agreements and bid-related practices.

In the second case, involving toner cartridges and other print consumables, CCI imposed a penalty of ₹11.98 crore on HP India and approximately ₹2.30 crore on 16 resellers.

The regulator found that the Tier-2 resellers sought and submitted support bids or cover bids, creating a coordinated bidding arrangement.

The 16 resellers named in the order include DD Enterprises, Ascent Information, Kaypee Enterprises, Britex Enterprises, Alankar Distributors, Vijay Stationery Mart, G R Enterprises, Perfect Innovative, Khandelwal Traders, A Square Technologies, Innovative Solutions, Pioneer Technologies, Delphi Infosolutions, Shakti Marketing, International Computer Resources and Arms Peripherals.

CCI said HP India played a central role in the cartel arrangement among these resellers.

Channel partners face greater compliance scrutiny

The orders highlight increasing regulatory scrutiny around vendor-reseller relationships, particularly in public-sector procurement.

For technology vendors operating through indirect sales models, partner governance around pricing, tender participation and reseller authorisations is becoming a critical compliance area.

Channel partners are also likely to face greater responsibility in ensuring independent bidding practices and avoiding activities that could be interpreted as coordinated participation.

The regulator also found officials of HP India and its resellers liable under Section 48 of the Competition Act and imposed monetary penalties on them.

The two orders were issued on 13 July 2026 under Section 27 of the Competition Act and relate to Suo Moto Case No. 07 of 2020 and Suo Moto Case No. 08 of 2020.