UNDER SECTION 26(2) OF COMPETITION ACT 2002

Consequent upon the repeal of the MRTP Act this complaint has been transferred to the Competition Commission of India under section 66 (6) of the Competition Act, 2002.

2. Factual background

2.1 The complaint was originally filed before the Ministry of Corporate Affairs under the MRTP Act 1969 by Shri Harish Kumar B Roongta against M/s. Thomas Cook India Limited (TCIL) on 20th July 2008 which was subsequently forwarded to the MRTP Commission.

2.2 The complainant alleged that he had been on a tour to Europe in May 2008 conducted by Thomas Cook India Limited (hereinafter referred to as ‘TCIL’). The tour charges collected by TCIL were split into two parts, one to be paid in Indian Rupees (INR) and the other in Euro currency. Moreover an amount of Rs. 750/- was charged towards Overseas Insurance Policy which was taken out by Tata AIG General Insurance Co. Ltd. through TCIL which also acts as an Agent of Tata AIG General Insurance Co. Ltd and earns commission for the policies sold on their behalf. The complainant has also alleged that TCIL forced passengers to take the insurance only from them.

2.3 The complainant alleged that at the time of booking of the tour he was told that insurance policy had to be bought through TCIL but if he wished to buy from any other insurance company he was free to do so, however, in that case Rs. 750/- levied towards insurance by the TCIL would not be refunded and thus in fact he was denied the right to choose a product which suited his need and requirement.

2.4 The complainant has further alleged that as one part of the tour cost was required to be paid in foreign currency, the TCIL also forced him to buy the foreign exchange from them at the rates much higher than what was prevailing in the market. Despite the complainant’s request the TCIL tried to force him to buy foreign exchange from them only on comparatively higher rate, but after a lot of deliberations and protests, he was given a "special" approval to make the said part payment in Euro currency from his own source but this "special" treatment was not given to other passengers.

2.5 The complainant has further alleged that the conduct of the respondent was in clear violation of rights of a consumer as he was not being treated in a fair manner and was not allowed by the TCIL to exercise the option to choose the insurance company of his choice. The complainant alleged that this practice adopted by the TCIL was detrimental to healthy competition and deprives all the stakeholder viz. other Insurers, small insurance agents, small Forex Dealers etc.

3. The complainant has prayed for following reliefs:

(i)To direct investigation into such practices.

(ii)To impose penalty on the TCIL.

(iii)To provide relief to the public at large from such monopolistic business practices.

4. DG (I & R) sought the comments of M/s Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. Tata AIG General Insurance Co. and Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) and all of them have filed their replies.

4.1 The TCIL in its reply has denied the allegations made against them by the complainant and has stated that though the TCIL is an agent of Tata AIG Insurance Company but it never compelled any passenger to obtain overseas insurance policy from them only. The TCIL has also stated that their company never compelled any customer/passenger to procure the foreign exchange exclusively from them. In this connection TCIL submitted that total number of 29 passengers opted for the tour in question "European Grandeur" including the Complainant and his wife. Out of the 29 passengers, 28 passengers obtained Insurance policies from Tata-AIG and one passenger namely Mr. Tilakaraj Mehra availed of insurance from Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company. TCIL also submitted that out of 29 passengers, 27 passengers purchased Foreign Exchange from them except for Mr. & Mrs. Roongta, who did not purchase Foreign Exchange from source since they were already in possession of Tra