India joins the western bandwagon in initiating an ex ante regulation of the large digital platforms , the so called “Big Tech”. The Draft Digital Competition Bill, 2023 , has been published by the Indian Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) on 12th March, 2024 and the MCA has invited stakeholders views for public consultation before…
India’s fair market watchdog, Competition Commission of India (“CCI”), after due consultations, has finally notified the “leniency plus” mechanism to further strengthen cartel detecting framework in India. CCI, in exercise of its powers underpowers conferred by sub- section (1) and clauses (ga),(gb) and (gc) of sub-section (2) of section 64, read with section 46 and…
“Competitive neutrality” meaning creating a level playing field between public and private sector is a bedrock of modern competition laws across the Globe. For instance, in Europe, there are special provisions for scrutiny of “State Aid” in the form of Article 107 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Unfortunately, while redesigning…
The Government of India, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, vide gazette notification, S.O. 2228(E), dated 18th May 2023, has enforced the following important Sections/provisions of the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2023 with effect from 18 May 2023. SECTION OF THE MAIN COMPETITION ACT, 2002 TITLE DESCRIPTION 2 Definitions Commitment, Enterprise, Party, Relevant Product Market. 3 Anti-competitive agreements…
In a significant development , after the Lok Sabha ( Lower house of Indian Parliament ) passed the Competition (Amendment) Bill 2023 on 29.March 2023 , the Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha ( upper house ) on 03 April ,2023 and after receiving the Presidential assent on 11 April 2023 , has been…
Lok Sabha , the Lower House of the Indian Parliament on 29.03.2023 passed the much awaited Competition Amendment Bill, 2002 (“the Bill”). The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 05.08.2022 and was referred to Standing Committee on Finance for examination and report thereon on 17.8.2022. The Standing Committee on Finance (under the chairmanship…
The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector is the backbone of any economy and has the potential to generate employment across all sectors of the economy with limited capital and technology. It is estimated that India’s 63 million MSMEs contribute over 30% of India’s GDP and 45% of India’s of exports, while employing around…
The winds seem to be blowing against US Big Tech companies in India!! Soon after the humiliating defeat faced by Intel in the Karnataka High Court in August, 2022 whereby the largest Chipmaker lost its challenge to the Antitrust probe ordered by India’s Fair Market watchdog, the Competition Commission of India (CCI/Commission), comes this most…
The Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2022, recently placed before Lok Sabha and referred to the Standing Committee on Finance on 17th August ,2022, attempts to promote the goal of ease of doing business while maintaining strong regulatory oversight on market discipline and competitive markets, the essential pillars of free market economy. The Bill also attempts to…
The fair market watchdog , the Competition Commission of India (“CCI/ Commission”) vide its order dated 04.04.2022 , after finding a prima facie case , has finally directed an investigation with respect to some market conducts of online food delivery platforms in India , Zomato and Swiggy, to inquire whether the conducts have resulted in…
