What India Competition Act 2002 (Act No. 12 of 2003, as amended by Competition Amendment Act 2023) requires
The Competition Act 2002 (Act No. 12 of 2003) is India's principal competition law statute, receiving Presidential assent on 13 January 2003 and administered by the Competition Commission of India (CCI), established in 2008. The Act was substantially amended by the Competition (Amendment) Act 2023, which received Presidential assent on 11 April 2023. Section 3 prohibits anti-competitive agreements: any agreement in respect of production, supply, distribution, storage, acquisition, or control of goods or provision of services that has or is likely to have an appreciable adverse effect on competition (AAEC) in India is void. Horizontal agreements that fix purchase or sale prices, limit or control production, supply, markets, or investment, allocate markets or customers, or involve bid rigging are presumed to have AAEC. The 2023 Amendment extended the Section 3 prohibition to 'hub and spoke' arrangements where non-competitors facilitate horizontal anti-competitive coordination. Section 4 prohibits any enterprise or group from abusing its dominant position. Abusive conduct includes imposing unfair or discriminatory conditions or prices (including predatory pricing), limiting or restricting production, scientific development, or technical knowledge, denying market access, using dominance in one market to enter or protect another market, and imposing supplementary conditions unrelated to the subject matter of the contract. Section 5 establishes thresholds for combinations (mergers and acquisitions) requiring prior CCI approval: the target must have assets in India exceeding INR 2,000 crore or turnover in India exceeding INR 6,000 crore, or the group must have worldwide assets exceeding USD 1 billion with assets in India exceeding INR 250 crore, or worldwide turnover exceeding USD 3 billion with turnover in India exceeding INR 750 crore. The 2023 Amendment introduced a deal value threshold: transactions with a deal value exceeding INR 2,000 crore where the target has substantial business operations in India require prior CCI approval regardless of assets or turnover. Section 6 requires parties to a combination meeting the Section 5 thresholds to notify the CCI within 30 working days of the agreement or board resolution. Section 27 empowers the CCI to order the offending party to cease and desist from anti-competitive conduct, impose penalties up to 10% of average turnover for each year of the continuance of the agreement or the abuse, and, in cartel cases, impose penalties up to three times the profit of the enterprise for each year of cartel continuation. The 2023 Amendment changed the penalty basis for anti-competitive agreements from average turnover in India to global turnover, significantly increasing maximum penalties for multinational enterprises.
Pillar: Competition & Antitrust · Authority: Competition Commission of India (CCI); Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) · Version: 1.0.1 · Last updated:
Primary source: https://www.cci.gov.in/legal-framwork/act
SHA-256 integrity: 1f3abe92e864bd5c5c661a9354714edc760f71a018a838d1e842d5c50b772cb3
Primary Citations — 7 traced to source
- Competition Act 2002 (Act No. 12 of 2003) (India), Section 3 - Anti-competitive agreements: agreements having or likely to have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India are void; horizontal agreements to fix prices, limit supply, allocate markets, or engage in bid rigging are presumed to have AAEC
- Competition Act 2002 (Act No. 12 of 2003) (India), Section 4 - Abuse of dominant position: dominant enterprises are prohibited from imposing unfair or discriminatory conditions or prices, predatory pricing, restricting production or technical development, denying market access, or leveraging dominance in one market into another
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