NEED OF COLLECTIVE DOMINANCE UNDER INDIAN COMPETITION ACT 2002

Abstract

The Competition Act was enacted in 2002 as a result of India’s pursuit of globalization and liberalization of the economy. Introduction of the Act was a key step in India’s march towards facing competition – both from within the country and from international players. The Act is not intended to prohibit competition in the market. What the Act primarily seeks to regulate, are the practices that have an adverse effect on competition in the market in India. In addition, the Act intends to promote and sustain competition in markets, protect consumer interests, and ensure freedom of trade in the market in India. . Despite having been enacted in 2002, the substantive provisions of the Act were only partly brought into force on 20 May 2009.

At the heart of the Act are various activities that will be prohibited as being anticompetitive.

The activities comprise:

(a) Anti-competitive arrangements;

(b) Abuse of dominant position; and

(c) Mergers and acquisitions that have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India.

In light of the experiences gained in its operation and the working of the CCI, the Government of India, in June 2011, constituted an Expert Committee to examine and suggest modifications to the Act. The amendments, approved by the Cabinet in October, are aimed at fine-tuning the regulations to bring rules on par with the prevailing scenario and in light of the experiences gained over the past years.

Accordingly, on 7 December 2012, the Central Government introduced the Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2012 in the Lower House (Lok Sabha). Typically, a bill has to be passed by both the Houses (Lok sabha and the Rajya Sabha) before it is sent to the President for his assent, pursuant to which, it becomes law.