9911796707
TMI Blog2013 (5) TMI 8X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of OP to set up COCO Saloon in contravention to the terms of the agreement was an unfair trade practice and an abuse of its dominant position under the Franchisee Agreement. Thus, as per the informant the acts and conduct of the OP were in contravention of the provisions of sections 3 and 4 of the Act. Held that – It is necessary to consider as to what will be the relevant market in this case and in this case would be the market of beauty and wellness services exclusive for women through saloon in the territory of Gurgaon as well as Delhi. The next issue to be considered is about dominance of OP in the relevant market. There are very few corporations in this market and these corporations cater to the need of only small category of cus ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d wellness services, as well as in the business of sale and delivery of products in relation thereto i.e. for saloon services for women. It has been stated by the informant that OP had opened a chain of nearly 168 retail boutique beauty saloons in various cities of India popularly known as "Lakme Saloon" through its franchisees. 4. It is alleged by the informant that the OP on account of its numerous retail beauty saloons all over the country has sizable presence and enjoys a position of strength and considerable dominance which enables the OP to operate its business model on its own terms and conditions independently of competition. 5. The informant alleged that he had entered into a franchisee agreement with the OP on 08.10.2010, wher ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 2013. 7. The informant opened up three Saloons till December, 2011 in accordance with the Schedule under the said Agreement and hence, under Clause 4.2 of the said agreement the informant acquired a right to territorial exclusivity for a period of three years commencing from the date of opening of each of respective Saloon. The informant alleged that he had already invested more than Rs. 5 crores in setting up the three Saloons mentioned above. 8. As per information a dispute arose between the informant and the OP in January, 2012 when the informant came to know that the OP had initiated process of setting up its own Company-Run and Company-Operated (COCO) Saloon in Gurgaon city in breach of the territorial exclusivity given under the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the area in which the conditions of competition for supply of goods or provision of services or demand of goods or services are distinctly homogenous and can be distinguished from the conditions prevailing in the neighbouring areas. The market for beauty and wellness saloons for women is a customer based market and the factors such as consumer preferences etc. as given in Section 19(6) of the Act are to be kept in mind. Beauty and wellness saloons exclusively for women are present in Delhi as well as Gurgaon in abundance. These saloons cater to the needs of all strata of the society viz. lower middle class, middle class, upper middle class, rich class and super rich class women. As the financial status of customer changes her preference ch ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e grown with time and some are standstill. In any case, the exact numbers of total saloons catering to different strata of the society are not known. However, some of the well known players are Lakme, VLCC, Jawed Habib, Shahnaz Husain etc. According to informant itself, Lakme has planned for total 7 saloons in Delhi as well as in Gurgaon. Presence of VLCC and Shahnaz Husain is at much larger scale in Delhi and surrounding areas. By no stretch of imagination, OP can be considered as dominant either in the geographical market of Delhi or of Gurgaon. There are innumerable branded and non-branded saloons exclusively for women in Delhi alone looking at the population of Delhi being 1.26 crore and the same is the situation with regard to the numb ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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