A Tale of Two MRI Machines By Anisha Chand and Radhika Seth (Khaitan & Co., India)1
The Competition Commission of India (“CCI”) has recently fined an Italian company, often touted as the world leader in dedicated Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines, Esaote S.p.A (“Esaote”) and its Indian subsidiary, Esaote Asia Pacific Diagnostic (“Esaote Asia Pacific”) for abusing its dominant position in the market for the sale of “Dedicated Standing/ Tilting MRI machines”. The decision of the Commission is intriguing on various counts, particularly considering that the majority order and the minority dissent order diverge on fundamental grounds central to the decision. Before we delve into the minutiae of the decision, the brief facts leading to the investigation are summarily discussed below.
The informant, House of Diagnostics LLP (“Informant”) engaged in the business of provision of medical diagnostics and diagnostic imaging services to hospitals and certain charitable institutions had filed a case against Esaote for alleged abuse of dominance by the Esaote which was the only supplier of the dedicated/non-conventional MRI machines in India.2 The Informant had averred that it entered into an agreement with Esaote for the purchase of dedicated standing/ tilting MRI machines (“DST Machine”) and lightweight Perforated See Through Cages (“PTC”). The Informant had further contended that Esaote had abused its dominant position in the market for DST Machine
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