Coal India Limited Rotten Score Breakdown

On March 24, 2017, the Competition Commission of India found that Coal India Limited and several subsidiaries abused a dominant position by imposing unfair or discriminatory terms in fuel-supply agreements with power producers purchasing non-coking coal. The CCI imposed a ₹591.01 crore penalty, issued a cease-and-desist direction and required changes to the agreements. The Commission said Coal India operated independently of market forces and unilaterally imposed contractual terms rather than developing them through a bilateral process. The challenged provisions concerned sampling and testing procedures, charges for transportation and other expenses associated with ungraded coal, limits on compensation for stones supplied with coal, and differences in treatment among power producers. The CCI directed Coal India to consult stakeholders, provide fairer sampling arrangements and ensure uniformity between older and newer customers and between private and public-sector power producers. The 2017 order followed an appellate remand that had set aside an earlier ₹1,773.05 crore penalty and required the matter to be heard again. In June 2023, the Supreme Court of India dismissed Coal India's challenge on the central issue and confirmed that state-owned enterprises can be subject to Indian competition law. The Court noted that Coal India could still raise policy-based defenses in individual proceedings, but did not exempt it from the Competition Act. Primary sources: Competition Commission/Press Information Bureau release: https://www.pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?lang=2&reg=48&relid=159922 Supreme Court judgment dated June 15, 2023: https://webapi.sci.gov.in/supremecourt/2017/5094/5094_2017_6_1501_44710_Judgement_15-Jun-2023.pdf The event begins in 2012, the year of the CCI cases identified in the final order; it does not purport to establish when every disputed contract term was first introduced.