UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF LEGAL

STUDIES (UILS)

LLB
Subject Name: Competition Law
Subject Code: 20LAT-316

INTRODUCTION OF
COMPETITION ACT DISCOVER . LEARN . EMPOWER
 Competition Law
20LAT-316
Course Outcome
CO Title Level
Number
CO1 Students will learn about Competition Law Remember
 
CO2 To enable the students to understand the origin of Com- Understand
petition Law  

Will be covered in this

lecture https://www.paychex.com/articles/marketing/how-t
o-succeed-business-competition
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 • Space for visual (size 24)

Competition
Law
20LAT-316

INTRODUCTION OF https://www.google.com/search?q=competition+commissio
COMPETITION ACT n+of+india&rlz=1C1CHWA_enIN639IN639&source=lnms&tb
m=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjLsM6Gia7mAhVVT30KHaK2Ah
8Q_AUoA3oECCEQBQ&biw=1366&bih=608#imgrc=7Qo6F7V
zlqD1zM&imgdii=WidE_vyzdfCWmM

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 INTRODUCTION

• Since attaining Independence in 1947,India, for the better part of half a century thereafter, adopted and followed policies

comprising what are known as Command-and-Control laws, rules, regulations and executive orders. The competition law

of India, namely, the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969 (MRTP Act, for brief) was one such. It was in

1991 that widespread economic reforms were undertaken and consequently the march from Command-and-Control

economy to an economy based more on free market principles commenced its stride. As is true of many countries,

economic liberalisation has taken root in India and the need for an effective competition regime has also been recognized.

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 INTRODUCTION cont..

• In the context of the new economic policy paradigm, India has chosen to enact a new competition law called the

Competition Act, 2002. The MRTP Act has metamorphosed into the new law, Competition Act, 2002. The new law is

designed to repeal the extant MRTP Act. As of now, only a few provisions of the new law have been brought into force and

the process of constituting the regulatory authority, namely, the Competition Commission of India under the new Act, is

on. The remaining provisions of the new law will be brought into force in a phased manner. For the present, the outgoing

law, MRTP Act, 1969 and the new law, Competition Act, 2002 are concurrently in force, though as mentioned above, only

some provisions of the new law have been brought into force.

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 INTRODUCTION cont..

• Competition Law for India was triggered by Articles 38 and 39 of the Constitution of India. These Articles are a part of the

Directive Principles of State Policy. Pegging on the Directive Principles, the first Indian competition law was enacted in

1969 and was christened the Monopolies And Restrictive Trade Practices, 1969 (MRTP Act). Articles 38 and 39 of the

Constitution of India mandate, inter alia, that the State shall strive to promote the welfare of the people by securing and

protecting as effectively, as it may, a social order in which justice social, economic and political shall inform all the

institutions of the national life, and the State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing.

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 INTRODUCTION cont..

• The main legislation governing competition in India is the Competition Act 2002 which repealed the Monopolies and

Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Act, 1969 and provided for a modern framework of competition protection. The main

objectives of the Act are:-

(i) to provide for the establishment of a commission to prevent practices having adverse effect on competition;

(ii) to promote and sustain competition in markets in India ;

(iii) to protect the interests of consumers;

(iv) to ensure freedom of trade carried on by the participants in the markets in India and for related matters.

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 INTRODUCTION cont..

• The Central Government may, by notification, establish a Commission to be called the 'Competition Commission of India'.

It shall be 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 carried on by other participants, in markets

in India.

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 INTRODUCTION cont..

• The Act prohibits anti-competitive agreements. It declares void any agreement by an enterprise or association of

enterprises which restricts the production, supply, distribution, acquisition or control of goods or provision of services. It

recognises horizontal and vertical agreements as having potential of restricting competition in an economy.

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MAIN PROVISIONS OF THE ACT cont…
• The Central Government may, by notification, establish a Commission to be called the 'Competition
Commission of India'. It shall be 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 carried on by other participants, in markets in India. The horizontal agreements are the agreements
between those enterprises which are at the same stage of production, services,etc. It includes, any collusive
agreement which :-
• Directly or indirectly determines purchase or sale prices;

• Limits or controls production, supply, markets, technical development, investment or provision of services;
• Shares the market or source production or provision of services by way of allocation of geographical area of
market, or type of goods or services, or number of customers in the market or in any other similar way;
•

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MAIN PROVISIONS OF THE ACT cont…
• The Act prohibits abuse of dominant position by any enterprise. Dominant position means a position of strength, enjoyed
by an enterprise ,in the relevant market in India . Such a position enables a firm to:- ( i ) operate independently of
competitive forces prevailing in the relevant market; or (ii) affect its competitors or consumers or the relevant market in its
favour .
• According to the Act, abuse of dominance by an enterprise will include the following practices :-
• Directly or indirectly imposing unfair or discriminatory conditions in the purchase or sale of goods and services;
• Restricting the technical or scientific development relating to goods or services to the prejudice of consumers;
• Indulging in practice(s) resulting in denial of market access;
• Making conclusions of contracts subject to acceptance by other parties,which have no connection with the subject of such
contracts;
• Using dominant position in one relevant market in order to enter into another market.

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MAIN PROVISIONS OF THE ACT cont…

• Directly or indirectly results in bid rigging or collusive bidding.

• The vertical agreements are the agreements between those enterprises which are at the different stages of production,

distribution, etc. It includes the following agreements:-

• Tie-in arrangement;

• Exclusive supply agreement;

• Exclusive distribution agreement;

• Refusal to deal;

• Resale price maintenance.

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 MAIN PROVISIONS OF THE ACT cont…

• The Act regulates the various forms of business combination and not prohibit their formation. Under it, no person or

enterprise shall enter into a combination, in the form of an acquisition, merger or amalgamation, which causes or is likely

to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition in the relevant market and such a combination shall be void. But, all

combinations do not call for scrutiny unless the resulting combination exceeds the threshold limits in terms of assets or

turnover as specified by the competition commission of India (CCI). Thus, the Act does not seek to eliminate combinations

and only aims to eliminate their harmful effects.

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 MAIN PROVISIONS OF THE ACT cont…

• If any person contravenes, without any reasonable ground, any order of the Commission, or any condition or restriction

subject to which any approval, sanction, direction or exemption in relation to any matter has been accorded, given, made

or granted under this Act or fails to pay the penalty imposed under this Act, he shall be liable to be detained in civil

prison.

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Assessment Pattern

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 REFERENCES
• 1. Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969.
• 2. Competition Act, 2002
• 3. Dr.SC Tripathi, Competition Law (2018)
• 4. Pradeep S Mehta, A Function Of Competition Policy For India
(2006)
• 

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THANK YOU