Competition Act 2002 and Opportunities Thereunder

Provides the right to practise any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business in the country.

Makes it the responsibility of the government to strive to minimize the inequalities in income.

Requires the government to secure that the citizens have the right to an adequate means to livelihood.

Requires securing that ownership and control of the material resources of the community are distributed as best to subserve the common good.

Requires securing the operation of the economic system so that it does not result in the concentration of wealth and means of production to common detriment.

Anti-Competitive Agreements (Section 3) Prohibits anti-competitive agreements (whether oral or written), including cartels.

Abuse of Dominant Position (Section 4) Prohibits abuse of a dominant position by enterprises or group entities in relevant markets.

Regulation of Combinations (Section 6(1)) Prohibits combinations which cause or are likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition.

Cartel Specific Penalty: In case of a cartel, the penalty is higher—the Commission may impose upon each producer, seller, distributor, trader or service provider included in that cartel, a penalty of up to 3 times its profit for each year of the continuance of such agreement or 10% of its turnover for each year of the continuance of such agreement, whichever is higher.

Section 53A: National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT)

The appeal against any direction, decision, or order passed by the CCI lies with the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) under Section 53A of the Act. NCLAT acts as a single unified appeal point against orders passed by the CCI, NCLT, and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI). Furthermore, it is within the Appellate Tribunal’s purview to hear appeals against orders passed by NFRA (National Financial Reporting Authority) as well.

Section 53T: Supreme Court of India

As per Section 53T, any person aggrieved by any decision or order of the Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) may file an appeal to the Supreme Court of India within 60 days from the date of communication of the decision or order, subject to substantial questions of law.

Appearance Before the Commission: Section 35

Section 35 of the Act states that a person or enterprise can authorise his or her Chartered Accountant(s) to present his or her case before the Commission.

The e-filing regulations explicitly state that information under Section 19 (grievances) and notice under Section 6(2) (combinations) can be filed by a Chartered Accountant. In such cases, a Power of Attorney (vakalatnama) is to be uploaded.

Right to Legal Representation Before NCLAT: Section 53S

Section 53S(1): A person can authorise Chartered Accountant(s) to present their case before the Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).

Section 53S(2): Central Government or State Government may authorise Chartered Accountant(s) to present their case with respect to any appeal before the Appellate Tribunal.

Section 53S(3): The Commission (CCI) itself may authorise Chartered Accountant(s) to present the case with respect to any appeal before the Appellate Tribunal.

1. Section 26(1) – Prima Facie Investigation Order:

On receipt of information or reference, if the Commission is of the view that there exists a prima facie case, it shall direct the Director General (DG) to cause an investigation into the matter. Such an order also specifies the timeline within which the DG has to complete the investigation and submit the report.

2. Section 26(2) – Closure Order at Inception:

When the Commission is of the opinion that there exists no prima facie case, it closes the matter and passes a closure order.

3. Section 26(6) – Closure Post-DG Investigation:

When the DG, after investigation as per direction under Section 26(1), recommends that there is no contravention of the provisions of the Act, the Commission may agree with the DG and pass an order under this section to close the matter.

4. Section 26(7) – Direction for Further Investigation:

If the Commission does not agree with the DG’s recommendation of non-contravention, it may direct further investigation into the matter by the DG. Such direction is passed under this section.

5. Section 27 – Final Penalty and Cease-and-Desist Order:

This is the most critical operative order. After inquiry, if the Commission finds that a contravention of the provisions of the Act has occurred, it passes an order under this section. The Commission may impose severe financial penalties along with cease-and-desist directions to defaulters.

6. Section 33 – Interim Order during Inquiry:

Empowers the Commission to issue an interim order temporarily restraining any party from carrying on any anti-competitive act until the conclusion of the inquiry.

CCI imposed a massive penalty exceeding Rs. 6,000 Crore on 10 leading cement companies and their association for extensive cartelisation and price fixing.

CCI imposed a penalty on BCCI for its IPL Media Rights agreement, whereby it had sought to restrict and foreclosed market access to any other professional domestic Indian T20 competition other than IPL.

Penalty imposed on 3 major domestic airlines for concerted cartelisation in fixing the Fuel Surcharge (FSC) on air cargo at a uniform rate of Rs. 5 per kg.

Penalty on All India Chess Federation (AICF) for enforcing anti-competitive clauses in its registration forms, stipulating that players will not participate in any chess tournament or championship not authorised by AICF.

In a high-profile suo-motu investigation, CCI passed an order under Section 27 penalising and restricting anti-competitive bid-rigging and price coordination in the Dry-Cell Batteries Market in India.

In another landmark suo-motu proceeding, the CCI passed a comprehensive penal order against multi-national and domestic breweries for cartelisation and market-sharing agreements in the Indian beer market.

Numerous orders were passed across states where retail medicine stores sought relief against chemist and druggist associations. These associations had anti-competitively mandated a “No Objection Certificate” (NOC) or Letter of Intent for the appointment of stockists, repeatedly circumventing previous warnings under changing nomenclatures.

The CCI initiated an active probe into e-commerce market practices and published a pioneering report titled “Market Study on E-Commerce in India - Key Findings and Observations” (dated 08-01-2020), advising digital platforms to establish self-regulatory guidelines regarding search ranking transparency, user review integrity, and non-discriminatory seller access.

The CCI investigated the pharmaceuticals sector to analyze measures to enhance competition and ensure the affordability of life-saving medicines, publishing its report titled “Market Study on the Pharmaceutical Sector in India - Key Findings and Observations” (dated 18-11-2021).