CCI raids on global media giants GroupM, Publicis, Dentsu ran through the night

CCI raided 10 locations in the strictest enforcement action ever against media agencies and a group of the nation's top broadcasters, just before the start of the popular IPL cricket tournament, the biggest sporting event for advertisers in India.

New Delhi - India's antitrust officers grilled media executives and seized data in an investigation into price fixing by global advertising agencies GroupM, Interpublic, Publicis and Dentsu, with raids continuing well past midnight into a second day on Wednesday (March 19), people familiar with the matter said.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) raids began early morning on Tuesday at around 10 locations in the strictest enforcement action ever against media agencies and a group of the nation's top broadcasters, just before the start of the popular IPL cricket tournament, the biggest sporting event for advertisers in India.

Top officials at the Indian office of GroupM were not allowed to go home overnight and the raid was still continuing on Wednesday, with evidence from mobile phones being cloned, two people with direct knowledge said.

Raids at Indian offices of US-based Interpublic's IPG Mediabrands unit, Japan's Dentsu and top broadcasters industry group IBDF ended early morning on Wednesday, nearly 24 hours after they started, people familiar with the matter said.

At the New Delhi IBDF office raid, CCI inspectors reviewed emails related to advertising dealings of the group, which represents billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance-Disney joint venture and Sony, said the first source.

France's Publicis Groupe office was also raided on Tuesday (March 18) and the operation continued well past midnight, though it wasn't clear if it has ended, said another source familiar with the operation.

GroupM, owned by Britain's WPP, did not respond to Reuters queries. WPP in 2023 said it had a 45 per cent media market share in India, with 45 of the top 50 advertisers as clients.

Interpublic's IPG Mediabrands unit, Publicis, Dentsu and the IBDF did not respond to Reuters queries. The CCI also did not respond.

The raids come amid major shifts in India's ad landscape following a $8.5 billion merger between Walt Disney and Reliance's India media assets, which is estimated to have a 40 per cent share of the ad market in TV and streaming segments.

The media agencies compete in India, the world's eighth-biggest ad market, where revenues of $18.5 billion last year are set to grow 9.4% in 2025, GroupM estimates.

In a case started last year, the CCI is investigating allegations that broadcasters and media agencies were colluding on prices and discounts of ad rates. The raids were carried out in New Delhi, Mumbai and Gurugram, Reuters has reported.

The watchdog does not provide details of price collusion cases, or make its investigations public, and the case is likely to drag on for months before a conclusion is reached.

If found guilty, the media agencies may be liable to pay a penalty amounting to up to three times their profit for each year during which the collusion took place, or 10 per cent of their turnover for each year of wrongdoing, whichever is higher.