UPS moves court to block publishers from quizzing India executive

UPS has asked an Indian court to quash a decision by the antitrust watchdog to allow book publishers to cross-examine its India executive, arguing it amounts to "coercion" as the company has already been cleared of wrongdoing, court papers show.

An Indian antitrust investigation report last year found "no evidence" that FedEx, UPS, Aramex and DHL indulged in price collusion, as alleged by a book publishers' body. But in an unusual twist in May, the watchdog allowed the Federation of Indian Publishers to cross-examine courier executives itself.

Allowing a complainant to interrogate companies is not common in Indian antitrust cases, and UPS has asked the Delhi High Court to quash the Competition Commission of India (CCI) decision, saying it was taken without giving any "cogent reasons" as to why it was necessary.

The book publishers' "cross-examinations is nothing more than a fishing and roving expedition and should not be permitted", UPS Express Private Limited said in an October 8 filing, which is not public but was reviewed by Reuters on Thursday.

The order will "vitiate the effect of the DG's investigation which has lasted around three years", it added.

DHL, FEDEX, ARAMEX EXECUTIVES TO BE CROSS-EXAMINED

UPS said in a statement to Reuters it continued to fully cooperate with the CCI on the matter.

Abbas Panju, India managing director of UPS Express who is to be cross-examined, did not respond to a request for comment.

The CCI and the publishers' federation did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The body represents many Indian publishers like S.Chand and Rupa Publications, as well as some foreign groups like Pan Macmillan.

The case is set to be heard on November 24.

Given the rise in online shopping, many foreign and domestic companies are bullish about the Indian courier and parcel delivery market, which is expected to grow 11% a year in value to $14.3 billion by 2030, Mordor Intelligence says.

Sending the case back to the CCI investigators could become an irritant for the logistics industry.

CCI senior officials in May found merit in the complaint by the publishers' group which argued cross-examination of the delivery company executives should be allowed as investigators relied on oral submissions to give the companies a clean chit.

The CCI has also ordered cross-examination of top executives of India's DTDC Express, DHL Express, FedEx and Aramex, but they are yet to commence or be concluded, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.

DHL told Reuters in August it was cooperating with the CCI, while the other companies have not commented.