India’s competition regulator has fined HP India and several reseller partners a total of 1.4 billion rupees for allegedly coordinating bids and prices for government contracts and printer supplies. The case matters because it alleges that HP and its channel partners distorted competition in sales of PCs, ink cartridges and toner, potentially raising costs for public-sector buyers and limiting reseller competition.

HP India received most of the penalty—1.3 billion rupees—over coordination with five resellers on computer-contract bids, while a further 119.8 million rupees related to toner, cartridges and other supplies; 21 resellers were fined 35.2 million rupees. The Competition Commission of India cited WhatsApp messages indicating bid rigging, cover bids, price fixing and customer allocation between 2017 and 2020, although HP said it had been commercially pressured by resellers facing competition from cheaper counterfeit supplies. The regulator has ordered the companies to stop anti-competitive practices and provide competition-compliance training within 60 days.