The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Wednesday imposed a fine of INR520 million on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for following anti-competitive practices with respect to the Indian Premier League, reported Times of India.
The Indian watchdog had penalised the BCCI for the same amount in February 2013, however, the penalty was set aside by the Competition Appellate Tribunal (Compat) in 2015 after an appeal by the cricket body.
The tribunal had asked the regulator to look into the matter afresh. Subsequently, the regulator had conducted a further probe and a supplementary investigation report was compiled in March 2016. The regulator upheld its decision on the basis of the supplementary report.
The 44-page order reads that the penalty comes to nearly 4.48 per cent of the average of the BCCI's relevant turnover during the last three financial years.
The average turnover of INR11 billion is for three financial years — 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16.
"The assessment of the commission clearly brings out that the impugned clause in the IPL Media Rights Agreement has been pursued by the BCCI consciously to protect the commercial interest of the bidders of broadcasting rights as well as the economic interest of BCCI," the order read.
According to the order, the BCCI being a not-for-profit organisation and its revenue being ploughed back into cricket are general features of any sports federation and the same cannot be taken as mitigating factors as proposed by the cricket body.
"Similarly, the commission does not find merit in the argument that there is no actual instance of refusal to any proposal for the organisation of domestic leagues similar to IPL," said the CCI order.
"After assuming a monopoly of IPL for a sustained period of ten years by excluding all potential competition, there is no reason for BCCI or anyone to expect a proposal for organising a similar league," the regulator said.
The CCI noted that denial of market access is one of the severe forms of abuse of dominant position.
