INTERNATIONAL : INDIAN COMPETITION ACT - OVERVIEW - ENFORCEMENT

Competition law in India: The journey so far

KEYWORDS

The Indian Competition Act, 2002 addresses all the three primary areas that modern competition laws engage with: cartels, abuse of dominance and merger control. With almost half a decade of coming into force, it has had a remarkable impact on Indian business and markets. Despite the nascent stage of the law, the journey so far has been rather interesting. For instance, there have been some serious interventions by the competition authority in key sectors of the Indian economy. While it is still early to predict effectiveness of the law, it is clear that the competition authority has strong enforcement powers in line with mature competition law jurisdictions across the world. This paper sets out a brief overview of the legislative scheme and the enforcement trends so far of Indian competition law.

I. Indian Competition Act, 2002: Background and context 1. Competition law in India is addressed under the Competition Act, 2002. [1] The objectives of the Act are to establish an authority to prevent practices having adverse effect on competition, promote and sustain competition in markets, protect the interests of consumers and ensure freedom of trade in the Indian markets. [2] Before looking at the specifics and mandate of this law, it is interesting to look at the background against which this law was enacted. 1. India’s pre-liberalisation industrial policy and competition law 2. After its independence from British colonisation in 1947, India instituted a full-fledged industrial policy and the purposes of the policy was to coordinate investment decisions both in the public and

Access to this article is restricted to subscribers

Already Subscribed? Sign-in

Access to this article is restricted to subscribers.

Read one article for free

Sign-up to read this article for free and discover our services.

 

This document is protected by copyright laws and international copyright treaties. Non-authorised use of this document constitutes a violation of the publisher's rights and may be punished by up to 3 years imprisonment and up to a € 300 000 fine (Art. L 335-2 Code de la Propriété Intellectuelle). Personal use of this document is authorised within the limits of Art. L 122-5 CPI and DRM protection.