April 16, 2025 – New Delhi — The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed monetary and non-monetary penalties on UFO Moviez India Pvt. Ltd., its subsidiary Scrabble Digital Ltd., and Qube Cinema Technologies Pvt. Ltd., for engaging in anti-competitive practices in the market for leasing Digital Cinema Initiatives-Compliant (DCI-Compliant) equipment to cinema theatres.
According to the CCI’s order, the two companies entered into restrictive lease agreements with cinema theatre owners (CTOs), effectively blocking third-party providers of post-production processing (PPP) services and limiting CTOs’ access to alternative content supply channels. These agreements constituted tie-in arrangements, exclusive supply obligations, and refusals to deal, in violation of Section 3(4) of the Competition Act, 2002.
The Commission found that such conduct created significant entry barriers and distorted competition in the digital cinema services market. As a result, CCI directed both UFO Moviez and Qube to cease such restrictive practices and amend their existing agreements to remove any clauses that prevent CTOs from sourcing content from other providers.
In addition to behavioral remedies, the CCI levied financial penalties: Rs. 104.03 lakh on UFO Moviez and its subsidiary, and Rs. 165.8 lakh on Qube.
The public version of the CCI’s detailed order in Case No. 11 of 2020 is available on the Commission’s website at www.cci.gov.in.
Source: https://www.cci.gov.in/media-gallery/press-release/details/515/0
