Competition Commission of India

Overview

native name	भारतीय प्रतिस्पर्धा आयोग
type	Commission
seal	Emblem of India (navy blue).svg
seal width	50px
seal caption	Emblem of The Government of India
formed	October 14, 2003
preceding1	Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission
jurisdiction	🇮🇳 Republic of India
headquarters	Competition Commission of India 9th Floor, Office Block - 1, Kidwai Nagar (East), New Delhi 110023, India.
budget	756.19 Crore (for Financial Year 2023–24)
minister1 name	Nirmala Sitaraman
chief1 name	Ravneet Kaur IAS
chief1 position	(Chairperson)
chief2 name	Inder Pal Singh Bindra, IRS
chief2 position	(Secretary)
website	https://www.cci.gov.in

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is the chief national competition regulator in India. It is a statutory body within the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and is responsible for enforcing the Competition Act, 2002 to promote competition and 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.

CCI also approves combination under the act so that two merging entities do not overtake the market.[1]

The commission was established on 14 October 2003. It became fully functional in May 2009 with Dhanendra Kumar as its first chairman.[2][3] The current Chairperson of the CCI is Ravneet Kaur, who was appointed to the role in 2023.

The Competition Act, 2002

The idea of Competition Commission was conceived and introduced in the form of the Competition Act, 2002 by the

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 of market manipulation.[9]

In June 2012, CCI imposed a fine of inr 63070000000 on 11 cement companies for cartelisation. CCI claimed that cement companies met regularly to fix prices, control market share and hold back supply which earned them illegal profits.[10]

In January 2013, CCI modified clauses in agreements between real estate company DLF Limited and apartment buyers.[11] Business and finance portal Moneycontrol.com welcomed 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.[11]

The builder will not have complete ownership of open spaces within the residential project area not sold.[11]

Not just the buyer but the builder will be liable for any defaults.[12]

All payments made by the buyers must be based on construction milestones and not "on demand".[12]

The builder will not have the sole power to form the owner’s association.[12]

On 8 February 2013, CCI imposed a penalty of inr 522000000 on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for misusing its dominant 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.[13][14]

In 2014, CCI imposed a fine of ₹10 million upon Google for failure to comply with the directions given by the Director General seeking information and documents.[15]

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.[16]

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 crores was imposed on Jet Airways, while InterGlobe Aviation Limited (Indigo) and SpiceJet were levied ₹63.74 crores and ₹42.48 crores respectively.[17]

In May 2017, CCI ordered a probe into the functioning of the Cellular Operators Association of India following a complaint filed by Reliance Jio against 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 crores for search bias.

On 12 August 2018, the CCI approved the Disney-Fox deal.[18]

In July 2018 the Commission imposed fines on the Federation 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 Healthcare Ltd, Divine Saviour and their staff and officers for breaches of the Competition Act 2002 by requiring No Objection Certificates before appointing stockists.[19]

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 with Android to block market rivals.[20] In its Prima Facie opinion the commission held, "Mandatory Pre-installation of entire Google Mobile Services (GMS) suite under Mobile application distribution agreements MADA amounts to imposition of unfair condition on the device manufacturers. Leveraging of Google's dominance in Google Play Store to protect relevant markets such as online general search in contravention of Section 4(2)(e) of the Competition Act 2002".[20]

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.[21]

In December 2021, CCI took a step back from approving Amazon's investment in a Future Group company, 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.[22]

On 31 December 2021, CCI ordered an investigation into Apple Inc. business practices, including the company's enforcement of a proprietary payment system, to be conducted within 60 days.[23]

In October 2022, CCI imposed a inr 13380000000 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 inr 9364400000 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.[24][25]

In November 2024, the CCI fined Facebook parent company Meta Platforms inr 2130000000 over unlawful practices concerning WhatsApp.[26]

Competition Commission of India

The Competition Act, 2002

Objectives

Preamble to the Competition Act

Composition

Notable cases and actions

See also

External links

References