India, July 14 -- The Competition Commission of India (CCI) issued a cumulative penalty of Rs.138.9 Cr on HP India in two cases of anti-competitive practices and cartelisation of the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) platform.

CCI's investigation revealed that, in the first case concerning government procurement of personal computer systems, HP was dictating bid prices to its resellers and intentionally withholding necessary authorisations from resellers.

In a second case regarding tenders for printing supplies, such as toners and cartridges, the regulator found that HP was coordinating cover bids among its resellers. This would help some bidders submit artificially high bids so that a pre-selected party can win the tender.

In the first o...