KEEPING WATCH

A CLOSE LOOK AT HOW INDIA’S COMPETITION WATCHDOG IS UPPING ITS GAME, AND THE CHALLENGES IT FACES

- RAJAT MISHRA

“FAIR COMPETITION FOR the greater good.” The motto of the Competition Commission of India CCI) makes obvious the responsibility the institution is entrusted with— make India a fair playground for doing business. Established in 2003, India’s competition watchdog took its time to evolve, learn from its mistakes, and emerge as a confident institution that not only leaves no stone unturned in creating a fair’ business environment in a developing country like India, but also set benchmarks for India Inc.in terms of fair practices.

The initial journey was rough. Initial orders were overturned in the appellate tribunal as there were alot of procedural lapses on fairness and due process issues. CCI was admonished quite a few times; there was a rap on the knuckles from the writ courts for not following proper procedure,” says Anisha Chand, Partner in the competition and antitrust practice group of law firm Khaitan Co. As CCI learnt from its mistakes, the number of decisions that were reversed and sent back for rehearing or reinvestigation started to fall. This phase also witnessed courts becoming much more familiar with domestic competition laws. The quality of decision-making in the second phase improved drastically,” says Chand.

Objectives that top the agenda of CCI include preventing practices that harm competition, promoting and sustaining competition in markets, protecting interests of consumers, and ensuring freedom of trade. Ever since CCI got legal powers in 2009, the general sentiment among the business community was that another mother-in-law had arrived on the scene,” recalls Ashok Chawla, who was CCI chairman in 2011. It has been very much a work in progress and worldwide it has been observed that an economic regulator takes time to settle down, sometimes 20-25 years.”