Commission, is a reality that cannot be ignored by
any business, Indian or foreign.
The Competition Commission has
utilized its power to show the stick
to BCCI by fining it with Rs.52.24
Cr for abusing its position of
monopoly status as a de-facto
regulator with vested commercial
interest in the Indian cricket
league. BCCI favored IPL
(established by it) and ousted rival
ICL (launched by Kapil dev) out of
business by misusing its power of
being the sole organizer of these
events, ‘full member’ of
International Cricket Council
(‚ICC‛). The cricket board indulged
in several irregularities:
Allowing Lalit Modi to rig the
bid and take decisions not
just in the capacity of IPL
Chairman;
 To keep its control and
blatantly allowing Franchise,
media and Sponsorship
contracts in favor of IPL.
 Although BCCI defense was
that its objectives are not with
commercial considerations
being a not-for-profit
organization, the unfair /
monopolistic and abusive
conduct of BCCI prevailed
over formal structure.
The CCI relied on - Supreme
Court’s ruling in the Chess
federation case which was
held to be an ‚enterprise‛.
Also, EC decision in case of
Abuse of Dominance by FIFA
& such sports league in EU,
Australia.
An Indian Express investigation
published in 2009 dubbed the
cricket league as Indian Parivar
League. Reason -Modi and BCCI
had turned into some sort of a
‘family affair’.
BCCI is the first public
organization being penalized by
CCI. CCI started its regulatory
regime by penalizing dominant
players like DLF, Schott Glass, and
National Stock Exchange. So far,
CCI has unearthed cartels & bid
riggers in several industries like
Cement, LPG, Film associations,
travel agent association, and
explosive manufacturers.
The road ahead is both wide and
dusty. Although the work to be
done is across all sectors including
the PSUs who have been riding on
policies favoring them, its not
going to be easy for CCI to put