By Aditya Kalra and Munsif Vengattil
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -The Indian antitrust body has raided the offices of many global advertising giants, including GroupM, Publicis, Dentsu and Interpublic Group, and a broadcasters’ industry group over alleged price collusion, people with direct knowledge told Reuters on Tuesday.
Officers of the Competition Commission of India searched around 10 locations after it initiated a case against the agencies and top broadcasters over allegedly fixing ad rates and discounts, said one of the sources.
The raids were being carried out in Mumbai, New Delhi and Gurugram, the first source said. Five other sources familiar with the ongoing antitrust operation confirmed the names of the entities being raided.
The raids come as the ad landscape in India is seeing major shifts following the $8.5 billion merger between Walt Disney and Reliance’s India media assets, which Jefferies analysts say will have a 40% share of the ad market in TV and streaming segments.
They also follow Omnicom Group’s $13.25 billion all-stock deal in December to buy rival Interpublic Group, creating the world’s largest ad agency. Omnicom did not respond to Reuters queries.
Spokespersons for ad giant GroupM, owned by Britain’s WPP, U.S.-based Interpublic’s IPG Mediabrands unit, France’s Publicis Groupe and Japan’s Dentsu did not respond to requests for comment.
The Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF) also did not respond, and neither did the CCI, which does not make public the details of its enforcement action or cases related to price collusion.
The first source said the CCI was investigating how ad agencies allegedly colluded with certain broadcasters to fix ad prices while selling them to clients, and discussed discounts.
Reuters was first to report the enforcement action and details of the antitrust case involving the media agencies.
The IBDF represents top domestic broadcasters, including billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance-Disney joint venture and Sony and Zee Entertainment. IBDF did not respond to Reuters’ queries.
‘A TOP GROWTH MARKET’
The first source said that CCI allegations included concerns that certain broadcasters were engaging in “collective action” to avoid giving discounts on ad rates.
The media agencies compete in India, the world’s eighth-biggest ad market, where revenues of $18.5 billion last year are set to grow 9.4% in 2025, according to GroupM estimates.
GroupM says India is emerging as a top growth market, with digital making up 60% of ad spending. Streaming giants like JioHotstar, Netflix and Amazon Prime, and online platforms such as YouTube are hugely popular in India.
In such surprise raids, which can take several days, CCI officers typically seize documents and record testimonies of company officials. The investigation is likely to then continue and the process is kept confidential.
Another source with direct knowledge said the antitrust case involving media agencies was started confidentially at CCI last year, declining to disclose a specific date.
In December, the CCI raided some offices of alcohol giants Pernod Ricard and Anheuser-Busch InBev as it investigated accusations of price collusion with retailers in a southern state.
If found guilty, the media agencies may be liable to a penalty amounting to up to three times their profit for each year during which the collusion took place, or 10% of their turnover for each year of wrongdoing, whichever is higher.
(Reporting by Aditya Kalra and Munsif Vengattil; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
