TT Friendly Super League Association And The Suburban Table Tennis Association & Others

Case No. 19 of 2021 Page 1 of 32 COMPETITION COMMISSION OF INDIA Case No. 19 of 2021 In Re: TT Friendly Super League Association 7, Sequeira Villa, 2nd Floor, CST Road Kalina, Santacruz East, Mumbai 400 098 Informant And The Suburban Table Tennis Association 303, Cosmos Court, Opposite IOL Petrol Pump SV Road, Vile Parle West Mumbai-400 056 Opposite Party 1 Maharashtra State Table Tennis Association Sharada Centre, 11/1, Erandawane Behind Padale Palace Pune-411004 Opposite Party 2 Table Tennis Federation of India 1-12, 3rd Floor, DSIIDC Industrial Complex Near Udyog Nagar Metro Station, Rohtak Road Delhi -110041 Opposite Party 3 Gujarat State Table Tennis Association C/o. Haresh Sangtani Sports Complex, Ward 5/B, Near Guru Nanak Public School, Adipur, Gandhidham (Kutch)- 370205 Opposite Party 4 Case No. 19 of 2021 Page 2 of 32 CORAM: Ravneet Kaur Chairperson Anil Agrawal Member Sweta Kakkad Member Deepak Anurag Member Appearances: For Informant Mr. Shane Zenon Sequeira, Director of the Informant For Opposite Party No. 1 Mr. Karan Pratap Singh and Mr. Tarandeep Singh, Advocates For Opposite Party No. 2 None For Opposite Party No. 3 Mr. Karan Singh Chandhiok, Mr. Mehul Parti, Mr. Uday Bali and Ms. Saumya Sunidhi, Advocates For Opposite Party No. 4 Mr. Prateek Kumar and Mr. Arjun Suresh, Advocates Order under Section 27 of the Competition Act, 2002 1. The present Information has been filed by TT Friendly Super League Association (TTFSL/ ‘the Informant’) under Section 19(1)(a) of the Competition Act, 2002 (‘the Act’) against The Suburban Table Tennis Association, (TSTTA/ ‘Opposite Party 1’/‘OP-1’); Maharashtra State Table Tennis Association (MSTTA/‘Opposite Party 2’/‘OP-2’); and Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI/ ‘Opposite Party 3’/‘OP-3’) alleging contravention of the provisions of Sections 3 and 4 of the Act . During the course of investigation, Gujarat State Table Case No. 19 of 2021 Page 3 of 32 Tennis Association (GSTTA/‘Opposite Party 4’/‘OP-4’) was also added as an Opposite Party. The Opposite Parties 1 to 4 are hereinafter collectively referred to as Opposite Parties (‘OPs’). 2. As per the averments made in the Information, the Informant is an NGO registered under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013, incorporated on 06.08.2020. The Informant is stated to work with the sole purpose of the promotion of Table Tennis (TT) in India, as stated in the Objective Clauses of its Memorandum of Association (MoA), and conducts friendly TT matches for its members around Mumbai City, Mumbai Suburban and Thane District in Maharashtra, as per the convenience of players and availability of venues, without any concept of prize money, referee, cup, medal, certificate or ranking of any sort. OP-1 is a registered society and is the district body headquartered in Mumbai having an affiliation with the State Body, with jurisdiction over Mumbai Suburban District only, responsible for conducting open district ranking tournaments in Mumbai Suburban jurisdiction for the selection of players to represent the State as well as promotion of TT in its jurisdiction. OP-2 is the State Body headquartered in Pune, Maharashtra having an affiliation with the National Sports Federation (NSF), responsible for conducting open state ranking tournaments in the State of Maharashtra as well as for selection of players from its affiliated districts to represent the State as well as promotion of TT within the State of Maharashtra. OP-3 is the NSF for the sport of TT in India, recognized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYA&S), under the National Sports Code 2011, and is a registered society under the Societies Registrations Act 1860, responsible for conducting national ranking tournaments and selection of players from various States to represent India in various international competitions such as Olympics, Commonwealth and Asian Games. OP-3 is also recognized by International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and is also the affiliated member of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) for regulation of the game of TT in India. OP-4 the State Body headquartered in Gandhidham, Gujarat recognised by Sports Authority of Gujarat (SAG), Government of Gujarat and is affiliated to the TTFI, New Delhi, with the objective of developing and promoting the game of TT in the State of Gujarat. Case No. 19 of 2021 Page 4 of 32 3. The Informant further stated that instead of appreciating the activities of the Informant to promote the sport of TT, the General Secretary of OP-1 Mr. Sameer Bhate, posted a circular/ notice on 30.10.2020 on a “Notices Only Masters Veterans” WhatsApp group addressed to players/parents/coaches/clubs, to not join any unaffiliated organisations and not to play any unaffiliated organisation’s matches, and it further stated that if any member club or academy enters into any arrangement with any other unaffiliated TT body, their club/academy would not be allowed to participate in any of the tournaments that the District body or State body organizes and will result in suspension/non-acceptance of their entries in TT tournaments. As a consequence of the OP-l’s notice, many suburban players refused to register as members of the Informant and the players who had earlier registered with the Informant, did not join the Informant by paying the one-time lifetime membership fee of Rs. 500/-. 4. In addition, the Informant has alleged certain clauses of OP-3’s MoA related to the definition of tournament, sanction for open tournament, restriction of players from participating in any unrecognised tournament and right to prohibit unauthorised tournaments by Executive Committee of OP-3, as anti-competitive. Directions to the Director General (DG) 5. After considering the information, replies of OPs, and other material on record, the Commission vide order dated 17.11.2021, passed under Section 26(1) of the Act, directed the DG to cause an investigation into the matter alleging denial of access to utilise the services of TT players because of the WhatsApp notice posted by the General Secretary of OP-1 as well as certain clauses of OP-3’s MoA for contravention of the provisions of Sections 3 and 4 of the Act. The Commission also vide interim order dated 21.12.2021 passed under Section 33 of the Act restrained OP-1 from issuing any communication to players/ parents/ coaches/ clubs, restricting or dissuading them from joining or participating in tournaments organized by Associations/ Federations that are not recognized by OP-1. Case No. 19 of 2021 Page 5 of 32 Investigation by the Director General 6. To examine the allegations, the DG issued notices to the OPs and third parties to collect relevant information/ data. DG also recorded statements of office bearers of the OPs during the investigation. The Investigation Report was prepared on the basis of such documentary/ digital evidence, duly corroborated by the oral testimony of the witnesses. 7. DG submitted the Confidential and Non-confidential versions of the Investigation Report on 14.11.2022. A summary of the issues identified by the DG for investigation and his findings thereon, are noted below: Issue (a): What is the relevant market, comprising of relevant product market and relevant geographic market, within the meaning of Section 2(r) of the Act in the present case? Findings: 8. Based on the analysis of various factors mentioned in the Act, and information gathered during the investigation the DG has concluded that there exist two relevant markets i.e. (i) ‘market for organization of table tennis leagues/events/ tournaments in India’ , and (ii) ‘market for provision of services by the players for table tennis leagues/events/ tournaments in India’. The DG found that TT cannot be substituted by any other sport in any significant way, indicating no substitutability on either the demand or supply side. Additionally, services provided by table tennis players for these events cannot be replaced by players from other sports. The DG also observed that competitive conditions within both defined markets are consistent across the country, making the geographic scope for both product markets nationwide. Issue (b): Whether OPs are dominant in the relevant market in terms of Section 4 of the Act? Findings: 9. The DG has found OP-3 (TTFI) to be a dominant enterprise as it enjoys the position of undisputed apex body in India for the game of TT and also the unique position of NSF granted by the MYA&S and its affiliation to the ITTF and IOA. In a pyramidal structure of governance, OP-3 enjoys the regulatory powers and implements its policies across the country through its institutional members, state-level associations, and the district-level associations affiliated to the state