Mubasher: India’s antitrust regulator ordered an investigation into alleged anti-competitive practices by Denmark’s Moller-Maersk and Dubai DP World at the nation’s biggest container port in Mumbai, a news report said.

The Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) order came after a complaint was lodged last June by Singapore’s PSA International, on allegations that Maersk and DP World created entry barriers to hinder growth of the terminal operated by PSA at the state-owned Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), a critical port to India’s international trade, handling over half of the country’s traffic of shipping containers each year.

Maersk, DP World and PSA operate four of JNPT’s five terminals, with the fifth run by the Indian government.

The dispute brought before the CCI centred around what is known as inter-terminal transfers under which freight trains arriving at JNPT and carrying containers bound for several terminals stops at one terminal to handle all the cargo on a given day.

Later on, other operators collect their containers by truck for loading at their own terminals.

The complaint alleged that PSA faces discrimination as Maersk and DP World charged higher fees on shipping companies for handling cargo arriving at its terminal, informed five sources told Thomson Reuters.

Moreover, Maersk and DP World issued advisories to deter using the PSA terminal, according to the complaint.

The CCI said in its order passed on 9 November that its provisional investigation found that both container shipping companies colluded on preventing PSA from operating effectively at the Mumbai port, two of the sources said.

“This co-ordinated conduct on the part of the opposite parties [Maersk and DP World units] prima facie hints at creating entry barriers for the informant (PSA),” the CCI said as quoted by one of the sources.

The regulator demanded its investigation unit to conduct further probe into the allegation and hand over a report by next January.