[Lavanya Gupta and Shreya Mukherjee are final year students at Symbiosis Law School, Pune] Five years after the initiation of the case, the Competition Commission of India (“CCI”) recently rendered its decision on Uber’s alleged dominance in Meru Travel Solutions Pvt. Ltd. v. Uber India Systems Pvt. Ltd. In its case against Uber, Meru alleged that Uber was misusing its dominant market position to...
Competition Assessment in R&D Markets: A Double Edged Sword
[Bhawna Lakhina is a third-year student of National Law Institute University, Bhopal] Research and development (“R&D”) constitutes a significant factor driving competition in the current market scenario. Companies constantly strive to innovate newer and better products as well as technologies to enhance their position in the market. This is particularly evident in markets like...
Confidentiality Rings under Competition Law: Need for Ironing out Wrinkles
[Amritesh Anand and Krishnanunni U are penultimate year students at Nalsar University of Law, Hyderabad] Antitrust investigations, by their very nature, involve extensive access to commercially sensitive information of entities being investigated, some of which is inherently ‘confidential’. Hence, it becomes imperative for competition authorities to institute sufficient checks and balances in...
Proposed Amendments to the E-Commerce Rules: Going a Step Too Far?
[Rohan Mitra is a 4th Year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at Jindal Global Law School] The Department of Consumer Affairs on June 21, 2021, proposed amendments to the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020. The proposals have been released to the public and comments and suggestions have been invited, with the deadline being extended until late July. The rules have unsettled many online...
Is NSE’s Co-Location Facility Abusive: A Competition Law Analysis
[Rishabh Joshi is a 5th year B.B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at Gujarat National Law University, Gujarat] Recently in its decision of Manoj K. Sheth v. NSE, (Case No. 35 of 2019) dated 28 June 2021, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) rejected the charges surrounding abuse of dominance against the National Stock Exchange (NSE) concerning the co-location facility. The informant had filed a...
Draft E-Commerce (Amendment) Rules, 2021 – A Competition Law Perspective
[Moksh Roy and Arjun Sahni are 4th year students at Symbiosis Law School, NOIDA] The Department of Consumer Affairs (“DCA”)on 21 June 2021 released the Draft Consumer Protection E-Commerce (Amendment) Rules, 2021 (“Draft Rules”). According to the press release, the Amendment Rules are aimed at bringing transparency to e-commerce platforms and strengthening the existing regulatory regime. In...
CCI’s Approach to Conglomerate Mergers: Arguing for a Reconsideration
[Nishant Pande is a law graduate (B.A. LL.B. (Hons.)) from the NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad (Class of 2021)] In late 2020, the Competition Commission of India (‘CCI’) expressed its intention to study the ownership patterns of private equity (‘PE’) investors. The CCI’s concern was based on the possibility that minority shareholdings of PE investors were not mere passive investments and they...
Is There a Period of Limitation Governing CCI Filings?
[Shreya Kapoor is a 2nd year B.A.LL.B. (Hons.) student at National Law University Odisha] In its order dated 4 May 2021 in Neha Gupta v. Tata Motors, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) was presented with allegations of anti-competitive behaviour and abuse of dominance under sections 3 and 4 of the Competition Act (Act). More pertinently, before deciding to order an inquiry into the alleged...
Deconstructing the Google Meet Case under Competition Law
[Tushar Chitlangia and Nikshetaa Jain are 2nd Year BBA.LLB (Hons.) students at National Law University, Odisha] In the recent case of Baglekar Akash Kumar v Google (“G-Meet case”), the Competition Commission of India (“Commission”) has held that the integration of G-Meet and Gmail does not violate sections 4(2)(d) and 4(2)(e) of the Competition Act (“Act”). The Commission has held that as users...
Replacing the Anachronistic Methods of Determining Dominance in EU Competition Law
[Aryan Garg and Bishesh Joshi are undergraduate law students at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad] With the evolving technology, there has been a rise of new dynamic digital platforms. They deviate from the traditional business models in various ways. The modern-day digital platforms are multi-sided, due to which there are network effects, and they can operate on the basis of zero-price models...
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