The Competition Commission Dismissed Complaint Against Oriental Insurance Company

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on 10 May 2019 dismissed allegations made by Anil Rathi against Oriental Insurance Company over alleged abuse of dominant position. Anil Rathi, the partner of M/S Laxmi Polymers, had bought a fire insurance policy from the Oriental Insurance Company and filed the complaint of infringement of Section 4 of the Act.

In the complaint, Anil alleged that Oriental Insurance Company had abused its dominance by illegally abandoning the insurance claim against a fire which was broken out on the premises of his organisation. Due to the loss occurred because of the fire, Anil lodged an insurance claim with Oriental Insurance.

However, CCI dismissed the allegations of abuse against the insurer based on the fact that it did not find Oriental Insurance Company to be a dominant enterprise. It said in its statement that Oriental Insurance had only 8.6% market share during 2017-18 which was a comparably low market share, so the insurer could not be considered to be in a dominant position.