India raids ad giants Publicis and GroupM over suspected price collusion

New Delhi — The Competition Commission of India raided the offices of many global advertising giants, including GroupM, Publicis, Dentsu and Interpublic, as well as a broadcasters’ industry group, over alleged price collusion, sources said on Tuesday.

Commission officials searched about 10 locations after it initiated a case against the agencies and top broadcasters over allegedly fixing ad rates and discounts, said one of the sources.

The raids were being carried out in Mumbai, New Delhi and Gurugram, a source said. Five other sources familiar with the operation confirmed the names of the entities being raided.

The raids come as the ad landscape in India is seeing big shifts after the $8.5bn merger between Walt Disney and Reliance’s India media assets, which Jefferies analysts say will have a 40% share of the advertising market in TV and streaming segments.

They also follow Omnicom’s $13.25bn all-stock deal in December to buy rival Interpublic, creating the world’s largest ad agency. Omnicom did not respond to queries.

GroupM, owned by Britain’s WPP, US-based Interpublic’s IPG Mediabrands unit, France’s Publicis Groupe and Japan’s Dentsu did not respond to requests for comment.

The Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation also did not respond, and neither did the commission, which does not make public the details of its enforcement action or cases related to price collusion.

The first source said the commission was investigating how ad agencies allegedly colluded with certain broadcasters to fix ad prices while selling them to clients, and had discussed discounts.

The IBDF represents top domestic broadcasters, including billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance-Disney joint venture and Sony and Zee Entertainment. IBDF did not respond to Reuters' queries.

Top market

The first source said commission allegations included concerns that certain broadcasters were engaging in “collective action” to avoid giving discounts on ad rates.

The media agencies compete in India, the world’s eighth-biggest ad market, where revenues of $18.5bn in 2024 are set to grow 9.4% in 2025, according to GroupM estimates.

GroupM has said India is emerging as a top growth market, with digital making up 60% of ad spending. Streaming giants such as JioHotstar, Netflix and Amazon Prime, and online platforms such as YouTube, are hugely popular in India.

In such surprise raids, which can take several days, commission officers typically seize documents and record testimonies of company officials. The investigation process is kept confidential.

Another source said the antitrust case involving media agencies started in 2024, declining to disclose a specific date.

In December, the commission raided some offices of alcohol giants Pernod Ricard and AB InBev as it investigated accusations of price collusion with retailers in a southern state.

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

Reuters