[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...
Digital Markets: Need for a New Approach to Merger Regulation
[Manasvin Andra is a 4th year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at NALSAR University of Law School, Hyderabad] The emergence of digital markets has heralded a remarkable shift in antitrust law, with the impact of mergers on potential competitors attracting particular attention in recent years. While authorities in the United States (‘US’) and the European Union (‘EU’) have begun deliberating on...
CCI’s “Control” Quandary: Practice, Precedent, And Proposals
[Prateek Bhattacharya is Associate Professor, Jindal Global Law School, Associate Dean & Associate Director, Centre for Postgraduate Legal Studies at Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University] As the Competition Commission of India (CCI) completes 10 years of its merger control regime, it has begun to settle down as an ex ante regulator of mergers so as to become the effective...
CCI on WhatsApp Privacy Policy: Some Inspirations, Some Questions
[Raghav Harini N is a final year B.A.LL.B. (Hons) student at ILS Law College, Pune] The Competition Commission of India (CCI), in a recent order, has caused the Director General (DG) to investigate the controversial privacy policy and terms of service of WhatsApp (the policy). It has concluded that the policy prima facie violates section 4 of the Competition Act 2002 (the Act). This decision...
Recent Comments