ABSTRACT
In an increasingly globalized economy, fostering fair competition is imperative for sustaining innovation, consumer welfare, and economic growth. This research offers a comparative analysis of anti-competitive practices in the European Union and India, focusing on their legal frameworks, enforcement mechanisms, and policy approaches. Anti-competitive practices such as cartelization, abuse of dominant positions, and price-fixing distort market dynamics, leading to higher prices, reduced innovation, and limited consumer choice. While the European Union has established a robust and mature competition law regime under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), India’s Competition Act, 2002 represents a relatively young but evolving framework guided by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The study critically evaluates institutional structures, procedural mechanisms, penalties, and recent case law in both jurisdictions. It also examines the challenges posed by digital markets and transnational anti-competitive behavior. Drawing on doctrinal and comparative methodologies, the research identifies gaps, strengths, and opportunities for convergence between the two systems, ultimately recommending policy reforms to strengthen enforcement, ensure market efficiency, and promote consumer interest in India.
Keywords
Anti-Competitive Practices, Competition Law, Cartelization, Abuse of Dominance, European Union, Competition Commission of India (CCI), Market Regulation, Price Fixing, Enforcement Mechanisms, Consumer Welfare.
INTRODUCTION
In worldwide economy of today’s world, to make full efforts towards ensuring of consumer welfare, making the market more efficient, and long-term economic growth and development it requires defending competition and preventing any kind of anti-competitive activity. The instances and examples of anti-competitive practices that might hinder any type of innovation, reduce consumer choice, skew market functioning, and increase in prices include price-fixing cartels, by abuses of market dominance, and anti-competitive mergers. As a result, strict competition laws and effective enforcement processes are increasingly crucial tools for maintaining moral corporate conduct and creating a fair playing field for both consumers and business organizations.
EU competition law is relied on the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), with Articles 101 and 102 serving as the guiding pillars for enforcing anti-competitive mergers, cartels, and abuses of dominance. The EU has established one of the most comprehensive and sophisticated enforcement regimes in the world with the help of the European Commission, combining robust investigation powers, substantial fines, and a focus on consumer welfare and economic efficiency. Over the years, in addition to reducing price distortion, the EU’s competition policy and framework has placed a high priority on maintaining market dynamism and promoting innovation as crucial and important components of a competitive market.
On the other hand, India’s framework for competition law is governed by the Competition Act, 2002, which is enforced and supervised by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The CCI was established to protect the interests of consumers, limit practices that harm competition, and promote and preserve competition. When compared to the EU, India’s competition laws are still in their infancy, but the CCI has come a long way of its evolution and development since it was first created. But there are still problems, particularly associated with enforcement, institutional capability, and the evolving nature of India’s rapidly expanding economy. With an focus on their enforcement strategies and policy approaches, this piece of research compares and contrasts anti-competitive activities in the European Union and India.