CCI Searches at Top Ad Agencies

India's advertising and broadcasting industries were rattled on Tuesday after the Competition Commission of India (CCI) conducted extensive searches at the offices of top media agencies and industry bodies.

- Gaurav Laghate & Gireesh Chandra Prasad

The searches, conducted in Delhi-NCR and Mumbai, targeted the offices of some of the biggest entities in the sector, including GroupM, IPG Mediabrands, Publicis, Dentsu and Madison. Offices of the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF), and the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) were searched as well.

According to a person familiar with the matter, the action followed allegations of price collusion and anti-competitive practices within the media buying ecosystem. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is investigating claims that advertising agencies and major broadcasters engaged in fixing ad rates and created opaque rebate structures, which could have led to an unfair market environment.