Monday, June 6, 2016

IndiGo Airlines didn't abuse dominance by hiring AirIndia's pilots a􀁺er obtaining NOC from competent authority

Facts:
a) The Appellant, Air India, had filed information against the respondent- Indigo alleging that it had systematically indulged in predatory recruitment of trained pilots of appellant and had contravened provisions of section 4 of Competition Act, 2002.

b) The Commission held that allegations against respondent did not raise any competition concern in market and there was no bar on informant or any other airlines from recruiting pilots belonging to other airlines after seeking 'No objection Certificate' from them On appeal, the Competition Appellate Tribunal held as under:

1) Since except making bald allegations appellant did not produce any tangible evidence on record to prima facie show that respondent had in fact indulged in predatory hiring of pilots already serving other airlines and, thereby, affected flying operations of particular airlines, which could be treated as abuse of dominant position within meaning of section 4(2) or violation of section 3(3)(b) and (c), Commission could not have returned a prima facie finding that respondent had indulged in anti-competitive activities or abused its dominant position in relevant market



2) Since appellant had not produced any documents to show that pilots serving under its employment and other airlines had joined services of respondent without giving required notice and without obtaining permission from competent authority, appeal was to be dismissed - [2016] 69 taxmann.com 398 (CAT)

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