In the last few months, Competition Commission of India (CCI) took what most might view as an extremely lenient stance in two cartel cases; what is known as the most serious violations of competition law. Hard-core cartels are perceived as the “supreme evil of antitrust”[1]. It is then perplexing to understand why such cartels operating…

When Europe sneezes…India catches a cold Investigations against big tech in Europe and U.S. have created a ripple effect all over the world, including India. The impact of worldwide investigations against big tech has intensified the sentiment of mistrust towards digital moguls. In this environment, it is only natural to make conclusions about the course…

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the already struggling Indian economy and the sky-high growth in the cartel cases in the country comes as no surprise. However, given the current economic fallout, the Competition Commission of India (‘CCI’) has lately shown leniency to the companies involved in the cartel cases. The Indian fair-trade…

On May 29, 2020, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (“NCLAT”) rendered a decision in the matter of Samir Agrawal v. CCI & Ors. wherein it inter-alia, ruled that the locus standi to approach Competition Commission of India (“Commission”) under the Competition Act, 2002 (“Act”) lies only with a person “who is either a consumer…

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has been very prompt with adopting various measures to continue its working during this period of pandemic. The CCI has issued several circulars and public notices from time to time to keep people updated about its functioning.[1] The CCI is currently functioning at a reduced capacity and most of…

Background The changing market dynamics in the digital era have raised several concerns with competition regulators across the world, triggering a host of studies for better understanding the issue. In doing its part, the Competition Commission of India (“CCI”) released the ‘Market Study on E-commerce in India’ highlighting various regulatory issues in the e-commerce market….

Introduction Sections 5 and 6 of the Competition Act, 2002 [‘the Act’] provide the basic statutory framework for merger control in India. The Report of the Raghavan Committee, which played an instrumental role in the formulation of the Act, contemplated the Indian Competition Law regime to be one of pre-notification in order to elude the…

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has released Interim Observations for a market study being conducted by it to understand qualitative aspects of e-commerce in India.[1] It has outlined its scope to understand the market landscape, strategies and issues arising thereunder, without undertaking an examination of breach of competition law.[2] So far, it has divided…

The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has dismissed an appeal[1] filed by Uber India Systems Pvt. Ltd. (‘Uber’) against an order of the erstwhile Competition Appellate Tribunal (‘COMPAT’) wherein the COMPAT had ordered an investigation into allegations of abuse of dominance against Uber in the region of NCR. The Hon’ble Supreme Court has observed that…

Having the Competition Act passed in 2002 and Competition Commission of India (hereinafter ‘CCI’) only started to function from 2009, Indian Competition law has taken many turns over the course of time and the ‘Competition Law Review Committee’, constituted in 2018, aims to ensure that the Indian legislation is in sync with the changing business…