Statutory regulator, Competition Commission of India (CCI) has reportedly imposed a penalty of Rs 1 crore on Bharti Airtel for failing to comply with the provisions of Section 6(2) of the Competition Act, 2002, according to a media report on Friday.
The penalty is subject to the acquisition of stake by the company in Bharti Telemedia from Warbug Pincus affiliate entity Lion Meadow Investment.
Bharti Airtel notified CCI’s penalty order dated 23 August 2023, amounting to Rs 1 crore under Section 43A of the Competition Act, 2002 in its regulatory filing.
The telecom major underlined about reviewing the order and evaluating the next steps in this matter.
Previously in March 2021, Bharti Airtel had bought back 20 per cent stake in its DTH arm Bharti Telemedia from Lion Meadow Investment for a total consideration of Rs 3,126 crore marking the transaction to be part of Airtel’s strategy to align the shareholding of its customer facing products, services and businesses under the same holding group.
It is said that a full ownership of Airtel over Bharti Telemedia allows the telecom operator to offer differentiated and converged solutions to customers so as to promote “One Home” strategy.