App-based cab aggregator Uber today told the Supreme Court that the Competition Appellate Tribunal’s order for a probe into allegations of predatory pricing against it suffered from “jurisdictional flaw”. Uber India Systems Pvt Ltd told a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra that the tribunal (COMPAT) had no jurisdiction to order an investigation in the matter as Competition Commission of India (CCI) had already held that no prima facie case was made out.
Uber has moved the apex court challenging the COMPAT’s December 7 last year order asking the CCI Director General to probe the allegations, including alleged abuse of dominance by Uber, levelled by Meru Cabs.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Uber, said that a probe cannot be ordered by the COMPAT without CCI’s prima facie view in this regard.
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“There is jurisdictional flaw in the order of COMPAT,” Sibal told the bench which also comprised Justices A M Khanwilkar and M M Shantanagoudar.
He said the only evidence placed before CCI along with the complaint was the report of an entity which collects data, and after perusing it, the commission said it was not reliable.
He contended that CCI had not found any violation by Uber on the allegations of abuse of dominance in the market.
“CCI had come to a conclusion that there was nothing to show that Uber is dominant in the market,” he said, adding “if you (company) are not in a dominant position in the market, then there cannot be any abuse of dominance”.
During the hearing, the bench asked Sibal, “COMPAT is an appellate authority and once an appeal is made, why can’t it order an investigation? We are on appellate power”.
Responding to this, the senior counsel said, “the power will depend on the nature of the statute. COMPAT can confirm or set aside CCI’s order and it can even modify it but Compat cannot say that the director general should investigate. This matter will have an impact on various cases”.
“CCI is a specialised agency and it deals with such cases day in and day out. The director general reports to the CCI only,” he said during the arguments which would continue next week.
On January 27, the apex court had ordered status quo on the probe against Uber India Systems Pvt Ltd over predatory pricing allegations by Meru Cabs.
The COMPAT order had come after Meru Travels Solutions had approached the tribunal against CCI’s decision. COMPAT had directed CCI’s probe unit Director General (DG) to conduct a fresh probe into the allegations of abuse of dominance and anti-competitive practices by Uber.
It had also asked CCI to pass an appropriate order on receipt of a probe report after giving opportunity to all the parties to file their reply or objection and affording them opportunity of personal hearing.
As per the complaint, Uber had allegedly resorted to many practices with the sole intent to establish its monopoly and eliminate otherwise equally efficient competitors from the market by way of discounts and incentives.
CCI in February last year had rejected Meru’s complaint, saying inability of existing players to match the innovative technology of any player or the model created for operating in a particular industry cannot be said to be creating entry barriers in itself.