India's antitrust watchdog needs to get its mojo back

The CCI's tardy record on major cases entails economic risks that could be minimized by empowering it

- BINOY PRABHAKAR

In 2012, Dr L.H Hiranandani Hospital in Mumbai denied a couple, Manu Jain and Saurabh Kumar, the right to choose their preferred stem cell banker. The couple did not turn to the judiciary or even a consumer court for justice. Instead, they approached the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

About a year later, India's fair-trade regulator fined the hospital ₹3.8 crore for anti-competitive and anti-consumer practices. The CCI, established in 2009 to rein in the misuse of market power by powerful companies and protect consumer interests, was then the new sheriff in town. Consumers and companies could seek speedy justice against any abuse of dominance by enterprises or exploitation by competitors. The CCI has since then busted cartels across a raft of sectors ranging from entertainment to cement. It has raided companies suspected of foul play. Any merger and acquisition (M&A) worth its salt needs the CCI's approval.

That's not all. The CCI seems to have the government's backing. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has in the past backed the regulator to police American Big Tech companies and asked it to stay "proactively alert" to ensure healthy competition.

Yet, the CCI is now a fading star in India's regulatory constellation, hobbled by loads of important pending cases. Take a look: