Compliance is one of our top priorities and is monitored by the Board Committee. Compliance Week is celebrated every year since June 2014 at all plants, regional and corporate offices. This reaffirms our strong commitment towards compliance with all laws, rules, regulations, internal policies, procedures and codes of conduct. It demonstrates to our stakeholders the importance we place on ethics and awareness not just of specific rules and regulations, but on creating a culture of compliance within the organisation.
We have a formal system of receiving customer complaints through a toll-free number. We received 401 customer queries/complaints on this number during 2016; all of them have been resolved and no complaints were pending at the end of the year. Seventeen consumer cases were pending before different forums/ commissions/courts at the beginning of the year. Four more were filed during 2016 and five disposed of, leaving a balance of 16 pending cases at the end of the year.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) passed an Order dated 31st August, 2016, imposing a penalty on certain cement manufacturers including Ambuja Cement about alleged contravention of the provisions of the Competition Act, 2002. The penalty levied on the Company is ` 1,163.91 crore. The Company appealed against the CCI Order before the Competition Appellate Tribunal. The Tribunal has stayed the CCI Order, subject to laying down of a 10% penalty in the form of a six month fixed deposit. It also ruled that if the Appeal is dismissed, then the balance amount of the penalty shall be deposited with interest @ 12% per annum from the date of the CCI Order, i.e. 31 August 2016. The Company has complied with the Tribunal’s Order dated 21 November 2016; the Appeal is now pending for the final hearing.
The state of Haryana has filed a complaint alleging cartelisation of tenders for supply of cement by some cement companies including Ambuja Cements Limited. The CCI, vide its Order dated 19 January 2017, has held some cement companies including Ambuja Cements Limited guilty of violating the provisions of the Competition Act and has imposed a penalty of 0.3% of the annual turnover of the last three financial years. This amounts to ` 29.84 crore for the Company. The Company will go on appeal against the CCI Order before the Competition Appellate Tribunal within the stipulated time period.
There are no incidents of non-compliance with regulations and voluntary codes concerning products and services with respect to information and labelling, health and safety impacts, provision and use, and marketing communications, including advertising, promotion, and sponsorship.