CCI rejects anti-competitive charges against Shri Ram Schools

The Competition Commission has rejected a complaint that alleged that Shri Ram Schools abused its position with respect to use of the brand name 'Shri Ram'.
In an order released today, CCI said, "No, prima facie, case is made out against the opposite party (Shri Ram Schools) under the provisions of ... The (Competition) Act for making a reference to the Director General for conducting investigation into the matter".
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) noted that as Shri Ram Schools "does not appear to be in a dominant position in the relevant market (the provision of school education services in the cities of Gurgaon, Dehradun and Indore) the question of abuse of dominant position by it does not arise".

The order follows a complaint filed with the CCI by Shri Ram Education Trust, that operates educational institutions in the brand name of 'Shri Ram Centennial School' and 'Shri Ram Global School', among others.
Shri Ram Education Trust and Shri Ram Schools belong to the same lineage of Shriram Family (a name of repute and good standing in the provision of educational services) and therefore are prefixing the words 'Shri Ram' with the name of their schools.
According to the complaint, Shri Ram Schools had "irrationally" placed hoardings, particularly during the time of admission, nearby the trust's schools. These hoarding carried the message that Shri Ram Schools had "no relationship" with the schools run by the trust.

The trust alleged that Shri Ram Schools had intentionally placed the said hoardings with a deliberate attempt to malign and tarnish the brand name of the trust's schools and to create confusion in the minds of public regarding the credibility and authenticity of the trust's schools.

It was also Shri Ram Schools had not taken any prior permission from the trust to use the name of its schools in its advertisement which is illegal and showed the intention of the school "to unfairly compete with it and to tarnish the brand image of its schools".
"... The allegations of the informant (trust) do not give rise to any competition concern in the relevant market," CCI noted.

"The information appears to be a family feud arising from the use of the words Shri Ram in the brand name of their respective schools in order to take advantage of the family name which is well known in public and same has been sought to be projected as a competition issue," it added.