Not one to take kindly to these allegations, Parle submits a counter-plea to CCI, calling Udaan's legal act "a misguided attempt by a disgruntled enterprise to settle a commercial grievance by blatantly abusing the machinery of the Act to interfere with the independence of Parle to deal with companies in its own commercial wisdom and compel it to appoint the Informant as distributor/wholesaler when it is not obliged to do so." "If Udaan is not given access to the said market adequately in the same terms as its competitors, it may have to exit the market altogether, since they would not be able to compete effectively, implying it would remain foreclosed for 83% of the relevant market," it implores. In its plea, it also cites that Parle's refusal to deal created and strengthened barriers in the market for distribution of its goods, thereby softening intra-brand competition to the detriment of retailers and end-consumers. Since Parle products reportedly enjoy high consumer demand, and Udaan lacked a direct supply, the B2B e-commerce company was compelled to buy the biscuits from the former's existing distributors in the open market, which pushed up its operating costs.
It claims to have faced a competitive setback because Parle refused to directly supply its popular Parle-G products "without any objective justification". Last September, the startup filed an anti-trust case against Parle Products, claiming that the latter abused its dominant position in the biscuits market. Udaan is a B2B online marketplace run by Bengaluru-based Hiveloop Technologies, allowing retailers and businesses to source merchandise directly from manufacturers and importers. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) turned down a plea filed by Udaan against Parle Products Private Ltd, the manufacturer of Parle-G biscuits, seeking direct access to its biscuits.
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