The agency also fined 21 HP resellers 35.2 million rupees (about $365,335).
In a separate order, the CCI said that WhatsApp records showed that HP and 16 of its Tier-2 reseller partners operated “in a collusive arrangement” and that the messages show the businesses engaging in “bid rigging, including cover bidding, price fixation, and customer allocation during 2017–2020.” HP India played a central role, the regulator said.
Per the order, HP India said that top printing supply prices led some resellers to threaten to “shift to low-cost counterfeit products to compete on price.”
“HP India was commercially forced right into a position where it needed to support the collusive arrangement adopted by the Tier-2 resellers,” the order reads.
For its part, the order said that HP India “humbly objects to HP India’s role being characterised as a ‘kingpin’ of the whole collusive arrangement.”
Still, the revelation that some HP resellers are fighting the exorbitant price of printer ink and toner underscores an issue many printer users face. The economic challenge is exacerbated by HP’s tendency to dam third-party ink in already-purchased printers through firmware updates. At the identical time, with even its own partners threatening to take their ink business elsewhere, HP is pressured to get more HP printer users to only use HP-brand ink and toner.
The CCI also ordered HP India and its channel partners to “stop and desist from anti-competitive conduct” and to carry competition compliance training programs inside 60 days.
HP hasn’t publicly commented on the fines.