COMPETITION ACT, 2002

Presented by: Laxmi Nandwani

The Competition Act, 2002

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 and merger & acquisition), which causes or likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition within India.

Components of competition act 2002

Anti Competitio n Agreement s Combinatio ns Regulation

Abuse of Dominance

Competitio n Advocacy

Competition Commission of 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 6 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 opinion on competition issues on a reference received from a statutory authority established under any law and to undertake competition advocacy, create public awareness and impart training on competition issues

Objectives of competition low

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

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 and inclusive growth and development of 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 the 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

National Competition Policy (India)

National Competition Policy is formulated by the Government of India with a view to achieve highest sustainable levels of economic growth, entrepreneurship, employment, higher standards of living for citizens, protect economic rights for just, equitable, inclusive and sustainable economic and social development, promote economic democracy and support good governance by restricting rent seeking practices

objectives
The policy is aimed at ushering in a second wave of financial reforms. The salient features of the policy are stated below: To guarantee consumer welfare by encouraging optimal allocation of resources and granting economic agents appropriate incentives to pursue productive efficiency, quality and innovation To remove anti-competition outcome of existing acts, harmonize laws and policies of Centre and State and proactively promote competition principles Strive for single national market. Establish a level playing field by providing competitive neutrality'.

MRTP Act, 1969 Based on the pre-reforms scenario Complex in arrangement and language Registration of agreements compulsory Competition Commission appointed by the Government No penalties for offences Reactive and rigid Unfair trade practices covered

Competition act, 2002 Based on the post-reforms scenario Simple in arrangement and language and easily comprehensible No requirement of registration of agreements Competition Commission selected by a Collegiums (search committee) Penalties for offences Proactive and flexible Unfair trade practices omitted (consumer fora will deal with them)

Thank you