[Sumit Jain is at the Centre for Competition Law and Economics (CCLE)] Section 26(1) of the Competition Act, 2002 allows the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to order an investigation (Director General’s (DG’s) investigation) in case of ‘prima facie’ violations of the Act. The said investigation is under no circumstance bound to influence the final decision of the CCI, and is only ordered to...
Antitrust and Aviation: Reviewing the Indian Civil Aviation Sector
[Anik Bhaduri is a III year student and Sudipta Choudhury a II year student, both at NALSAR University of Law] In November last year, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) began an inquiry into allegations of price-fixing in the airlines industry, while in March 2018 the Commission imposed a penalty on three airline carriers for price-fixing. These frequent investigations by the CCI point at...
Digital Market and Zero-Pricing: Is SSNIP Test Applicable?
[Anubhav Sharma and Chirag Jindal are 4th Year B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) student at National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi] Introduction Identification of the ‘relevant market’ is one of the most crucial aspects of the antitrust (competition) assessment by the authorities. It is based on two notions: firstly, ‘perfect monopoly’ and ‘perfect competition’ do not exist; and, secondly, firm(s)...
CCI on Whether Inefficiency or Delay in Service Amount to a Violation under the Competition Act
[Anirban Chanda is a 4th year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student and Anujay Shrivastava a 5th Year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student, both at the Jindal Global Law School] In its recent decision in National Consumers Co-operative Federation of India v. New Town Electric Supply Company Ltd. and West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Ltd. (NCCFI), the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has declared that...
Green Channel in Combination Regulations: Legislative Concerns
[Basu Chandola is a Research Assistant at the Jindal Initiative on Research in IP and Competition (JIRICO)] The Competition Law Review Committee, which was established in 2018 to ensure that competition law is strengthened and re-calibrated to promote best practices, submitted its report in July this year. The Committee has recommended the introduction of a “green channel” mechanism to deal with...
Trade Associations and Pharmaceutical Industry: A Competition Conundrum
[Yashvardhan Singh is a 2nd year student and Palash Moolchandani a 3rd year student, both at the National Law University Odisha] Trade Associations are business platforms where players of a particular industry meet to discuss common concerns and to take collective decisions about certain practices in that industry. The role of trade associations in any industry and the economy cannot be disputed...
CCI’s Evolution in Relation to the Smartphone Market
[Sumit Jain is at the Centre for Competition Law and Economics (CCLE)] Through its order dated 16 April 2019 in Umar Javed v. Google LLC, the Competition Commission of India initiated a probe against Google Inc. for its potential abuse of dominant position on the Android platform. The order remains curious from multiple standpoints. First, it was not made public until as late as 18 June 2019...
Competition Commission on Regulating Distribution of Pharmaceutical Products
[Anupriya Dhonchak is a IV year student at the National Law University, Delhi] The pharmaceutical sector merits close competition scrutiny because the practices by multiple market players in the sector play a crucial role in determining sustainable access to affordable medicines. The nexus among manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers gives rise to unique competition concerns due to the...
Competition Law Issues in the Indian Telecom Sector: Analysis of Recent Developments
[Varun Kannan is a 5th year law student at the National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata] The telecom sector in India has witnessed intense competition over the past decade. The arrival of Reliance Jio and the Vodafone-Idea merger reinforce the steep competition that exists in this sector – which forces the market players to continuously enhance their performance and gain an edge over...
Competition Commission of India: Emerging Appellate Body for the Sectoral Regulators
[Bhaskar Simha L. N. and Sumit Jain are currently working with the Centre for Competition Law and Economics (CCLE)] The Competition Commission of India (CCI) was established by the Competition Act, 2002 to promote and sustain competition in the Indian market. The said piece of legislation drew no distinction for sectoral regulators and allowed the CCI to look into every domain, barring sovereign...
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