According to four sources, India’s antitrust agency raided the offices of tyre companies including Continental AG of Germany and Apollo Tyres and CEAT of India on Wednesday in a case of suspected competition law violations.
After Reuters first reported the raids, shares of Apollo, one of India’s largest tyre makers, fell as much as 3 percent, while CEAT fell 2.2 percent in the Mumbai market, which was trading higher.
Continental, a relatively small player in India, saw its shares fall about 3.5 percent in morning trade in Frankfurt.
Apollo did not respond immediately to a request for comment, and calls and messages to CEAT spokespeople were not returned.
Continental confirmed in a statement issued after the Reuters report that officers from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) had visited its office near New Delhi.
“Continental is fully cooperating with authorities,” the company stated.
According to the sources, the raids were carried out by CCI officers in multiple cities.
The CCI did not respond immediately to a request for comment. The agency does not make its raids public.
According to one source, the case was related to an antitrust investigation into the use of unfair trade practises and bid rigging while supplying tyres for public transportation vehicles in the northern state of Haryana.
According to Reuters, the CCI launched a broad investigation into many tyre companies in 2020 after receiving a complaint from the Haryana state government.
A bid-rigging conviction could result in a fine of up to three times the profit made in each year the prices were fixed by the companies, or 10% of annual revenue, whichever is greater.
