Competition Commission of India

Published on 28 Jan 2025

Competition Commission of India (CCI)

The Competition Commission of India serves as the chief national competition regulator in India. Established under the Competition Act of 2002, following the recommendations of the Raghavan Committee. it operates as a statutory body within the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Role of Competition Commission of India

• Eliminate anti-competitive practices: The body takes action against trade practices that have a negative impact on the competition ecosystem.

• Example: In 2022, the CCI imposed a penalty against Google for abusing its dominant position with respect to its Play Store policies and Android mobile device ecosystem.

• Consumer welfare: Make the market work for the benefit of the consumers and protect their interests.

• Example: In 2015, the CCI imposed a fine on three airlines for cartelisation in determining the fuel surcharge, thus protecting consumer welfare.

• Facilitate healthy competition: Ensure fair competition in economic activities for faster and inclusive growth of the country.

• Example: In 2022, the CCI imposed a fine on MakeMyTrip for entering into a preferential pact with hotel partners.

• Competition advocacy: Competition Commission is also in charge of popularizing the benefits of competition among all stakeholders in the economy.

• Example: Recently, a Competition Law Awareness Programme was conducted by CCI in collaboration with Manipal Law School, Bengaluru

• Advise on competition issues: Gives opinion of issues related to competition on any reference received from a statutory authority.

• Clearance to mergers and acquisitions: Timely clearance can create a better impression regarding India’s business ecosystem to the investors.

• Example: The Commission has reviewed more than 900 mergers and acquisitions and cleared most of them within a record average time of 30 days. (RTI data)

Issues associated with the office of CCI

• Appeals pending before higher authorities: Most of the orders given by the CCI are under appeal before the NCLAT or the High Court or the Supreme Court.

• Example: More than 50% of cases have gone for appeals.

• Inadequate implementation of orders: Though the commission has been quick in giving orders, there has been difficulty in executing. them.

• Example: The Commission has fined companies over 13000 crore between 2011-12 and 2018-19, but has collected less than 1% of the amount. (RTI data)

• Human resource concern: The commission faces shortage of expert staff when dealing with cases that require more subject knowledge of the domain.

• Example: For delivering a case involving Cellular Operators Association of India, the members giving order should have sufficient knowledge regarding the working of telecom sector in India.

• New Market definition: Since there exist no boundaries in the digital space, it has been a difficult task for the regulators to define the market.

• Ambiguities in the legislation: The Competition Commission Act has certain loopholes which create unnecessary legal uncertainty, favouring the law firms.

Way Forward

• Plug loopholes in legislation: Changes need to be made to address the gaps in the present legislation so as to prevent misuse by dominant firms.

• Appoint expert staff: The number of members could be increased and they must belong to diverse domains so as to give a wider understanding of issues.

• Faster disposal of case: The NCLAT should dispose of the cases at the earliest and limit the option of moving to the High Court for selected cases.

The Competition Commission of India has been instrumental in safeguarding fair competition within the Indian market. With the expanding scope of commerce, it is imperative for the commission to undergo reforms to enhance its efficiency in fulfilling its responsibilities in the years to come.

Tags:
Polity

Keywords:
competition commission of India Non constitutional bodies Statutory bodies

Syllabus:
General Studies Paper 2

Topics:
Governance and Transparency