Dismissing RKG Hospitalities' allegations of unfair business practices against Oyo, the Competition Commission of India said on July 31 that it can not be concluded that Oyo was in a dominant position and thus, did not engage in unfair business practices. The watchdog said that the relevant market for this particular case was “market for franchising services for budget hotels in India”. CCI didn't find Oyo in violation of Section 4 of the Competitions Act, as accused by the complainant. The complainant had entered into a ‘Marketing and Operational Consulting Agreement’ with Oyo in 2017. The company alleged that its agreement with Oyo contained clauses which were one-sided, unfair and discriminatory, and which OYO was able to impose only because of its dominant position. The company also raised questions on seven clauses under its business contract with Oyo, including its policy-based incentives and disincentives, forcing hotel partners to modify premises to meet its standards, opaque scoring policy impacting the performance score of the hotel with no redressal, and other. 'Significant market share doesn't indicate dominance': What CCI said in its order The Commission said that while Oyo “appears” to be the leading player in the relevant market with a “significant market share” in terms of number of hotels and rooms on its network, market share alone may or may not indicate dominance. RKG Hospitalities had alleged that as part of their agreement with Oyo, they were required to not to enter "into any agreement directly or indirectly to engage with online aggregators like…
