Competition Commission of India

TheCompetition Commission of India(CCI) is the chief nationalcompetition regulatorinIndia.It is astatutorybody within theMinistry of Corporate Affairsand is responsible for enforcing theCompetition Act, 2002to promotecompetitionand prevent activities that have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India. The CCI looks into cases and investigates them if the same has a negative impact on competition.

Competition Commission of India

भारतीय प्रतिस्पर्धा आयोग
Commission overview
Formed	14 October 2003(2003-10-14)
Preceding Commission	Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission
Jurisdiction	Republic of India
Headquarters	Competition Commission of India 9th Floor, Office Block - 1, Kidwai Nagar (East),New Delhi110023, India.
Annual budget	756.19 Crore (for Financial Year 2023–24)
Minister responsible	Nirmala Sitaraman
Commission executives	Ravneet Kaur IAS,(Chairperson) Inder Pal Singh Bindra, IRS,(Secretary)
Website	www.cci.gov.in

CCI also approves combination under the act so that two merging entities do not overtake the market.

The commission was established on 14 October 2003. It became fully functional in May 2009 withDhanendra Kumaras its first chairman.The current Chairperson of the CCI is Ravneet Kaur, who was appointed to the role in 2023.

The Competition Act, 2002

Main article:The Competition Act, 2002

The idea of Competition Commission was conceived and introduced in the form of the Competition Act, 2002 by theVajpayee government.A need was felt to promote competition and private enterprise especially in the light of1991 Indian economic liberalisation.

The Competition Act, 2002, as amended by the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2007, follows the philosophy of modern competition laws. The Act prohibits anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position by enterprises and regulates combinations (acquisition, acquiring of control andMerger and acquisition), which causes or likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition within India.

The objectives of the act are sought to be achieved through the Competition Commission of India (CCI), which has been established by the Central Government with effect from 14 October 2003. CCI consists of a chairperson and six members appointed by the Central Government. It is the duty of the commission to eliminate practices having adverse effect on competition, promote and sustain competition, protect the interests of consumers and ensure freedom of trade in the markets of India. The commission is also required to give an opinion on competition issues on a reference received from astatutory authorityestablished under any law and to undertake competition advocacy, create public awareness and impart training on competition issues.

Objectives

"The main objective of competition law is to promote economic efficiency using competition as one of the means of assisting the creation of market responsive to consumer preferences. The advantages of perfect competition are three-fold: allocative efficiency, which ensures the effective allocation of resources, productive efficiency, which ensures that costs of production are kept at a minimum and dynamic efficiency, which promotes innovative practices."

Supreme Court of IndiaJudgment in Civil Appeal No. 7999 of 2010 pronounced on 9 September 2010

Preamble to the Competition Act

An Act to provide, keeping in view of the economic development of the country, for the establishment of a Commission to prevent practices having adverse effect on competition, to promote and sustain competition in markets, to protect the interests of consumers and to ensure freedom of trade carried on by other participants in markets, in India, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

To achieve its objectives, the Competition Commission of India endeavors to do the following:

• Make the markets work for the benefit and welfare of consumers.
• Ensure fair and healthy competition in economic activities in the country for faster andinclusive growthand development of the economy.
• Implement competition policies with an aim to effectuate the most efficient utilization of economic resources.
• Develop and nurture effective relations and interactions with sectoral regulators to ensure smooth alignment of sectoral regulatory laws in tandem with competition law.
• Effectively carry out competition advocacy and spread the information on benefits of competition among all stakeholders to establish and nurture competition culture in Indian economy.

Composition

Shri Ashok Chawla, former chairman of the Competition Commission of India, and Mr. Joaquin Almunia, vice-president of the European Commission, signing a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Competition Law on 21st November 2013.

The commission comprises a chairperson and not less than two and not more than six other members appointed by the Central Government. Ravneet Kaur is the current chairperson of the CCI.The members of the Competition Commission of India are:

1. Ravneet Kaur
2. Anil Agarwal
3. Sweta Kakkad
4. Deepak Anurag

Notable cases and actions

• In December 2010, CCI instituted a probe to examine if there was any cartelization among traders when onion prices touched 80 rupees, but did not find enough evidence ofmarket manipulation.
• In June 2012, CCI imposed a fine of₹63.07 billion(US$730 million) on 11 cement companies forcartelisation.CCI claimed that cement companies met regularly to fix prices, control market share and hold back supply which earned them illegal profits.
• In January 2013, CCI modified clauses in agreements between real estate companyDLF Limitedand apartment buyers.Business and finance portalMoneycontrol.comwelcomed the order saying that, "This is a landmark ruling and will benefit property owners across the country". Some of the important modifications were:
  • The Builder cannot undertake any additional construction beyond the approved building plan given to the buyers.
  • The builder will not have complete ownership of open spaces within the residential project area not sold.
  • Not just the buyer but the builder will be liable for any defaults.
  • All payments made by the buyers must be based on construction milestones and not "on demand".
  • The builder will not have the sole power to form theowner’s association.
• On 8 February 2013, CCI imposed a penalty of₹522 million(US$6.0 million) on theBoard of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI) for misusing itsdominant position.The CCI found that IPL team ownership agreements were unfair and discriminatory and that the terms of the IPL franchise agreements were loaded in favor of BCCI and franchises had no say in the terms of the contract. The CCI ordered BCCI to "cease and desist" from any practice in future denying market access to potential competitors and not use its regulatory powers in deciding matters relating to its commercial activities.
• In 2014, CCI imposed a fine of ₹10 million uponGooglefor failure to comply with the directions given by the Director General seeking information and documents.
• On 25 August 2014, CCI imposed a fine of ₹2544 crores on 14 Indian car manufacturers for failure to provide branded spare parts and diagnostic tools to independent repairers, hampering their ability to repair and maintain certain car models. The companies fined were Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen, Fiat, Ford, General Motors, Nissan, Hindustan Motors, Mercedes Benz and Skoda.
• On 17 November 2015, CCI imposed a fine of ₹258 crores upon three airlines for cartelization in determining the fuel surcharge on air cargo. A penalty of₹151.69 croreswas imposed onJet Airways,whileInterGlobe Aviation Limited (Indigo)andSpiceJetwere levied₹63.74 croresand₹42.48 croresrespectively.
• In May 2017, CCI ordered a probe into the functioning of theCellular Operators Association of Indiafollowing a complaint filed byReliance Jioagainst the cartelization by its rivals Bharati Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea cellular.
• On 8 February 2018, it had fined Google's parent company,Alphabet Inc.for₹135.86 croresforsearch bias.
• On 12 August 2018, the CCI approved theDisney-Fox deal.
• In July 2018 the Commission imposed fines on theFederation of Gujarat State Chemists and Druggists Association,the Amdavad Chemist Association, the Surat Chemists and Druggists Association, the Chemists and Druggists Association of Baroda,Glenmark Pharmaceuticals,Hetero HealthcareLtd, Divine Saviour and their staff and officers for breaches of the Competition Act 2002 by requiringNo Objection Certificatesbefore appointing stockists.
• In May 2019,Umar Javeed, Sukarma Thapar, Aaqib Javeed vs. Google LLC & Ors.the commission ordered an antitrust probe against Google for abusing its dominant position withAndroidto block market rivals.In its Prima Facie opinion the commission held, "Mandatory Pre-installation of entireGoogle Mobile Services(GMS) suite under Mobile application distribution agreements MADA amounts to imposition of unfair condition on the device manufacturers. Leveraging ofGoogle's dominance in GooglePlay Storeto protect relevant markets such as online general search in contravention of Section 4(2)(e) of theCompetition Act 2002".
• In June 2019, CCI issued letters to handset makers seeking details of terms and conditions of their agreement with Google. This is to ascertain if Google imposed any restrictions on them for using the company's apps in the past 8 years from 2011.
• In December 2021, CCI took a step back from approvingAmazon's investment in aFuture Groupcompany, which had initially received its nod in November 2019. Amazon has been blamed for concealing the scope and complete information of its investment while seeking for the approval.
• On 31 December 2021, CCI ordered an investigation intoApple Inc.business practices, including the company's enforcement of a proprietary payment system, to be conducted within 60 days.
• In October 2022, CCI imposed a₹1,338 crore(US$150 million) penalty on Google for abusing its dominance in the licensing of Android OS for smartphones, app store market for Android, general web search services, non-OS specific mobile web browsers and online video hosting platforms in India. A week later, CCI levied a separate₹936.44 crore(US$110 million) penalty for abusing its Play Store policies. Additionally, it issued a cease-and-desist order directing Google to modify its policies, including allowing mobile application developers to use third-party payment services on its app store.
• In November 2024, the CCI finedFacebookparent companyMeta Platforms₹213 crore(US$25 million) over unlawful practices concerningWhatsApp.

See also

• National Competition Policy (India)

External links

• Official websiteCompetition Commission of India
• The Competition Act, 2002 – Bare Act
• Overview of Competition Law