CAG emphasises need for regulator to tackle market failure
Published: May 21, 2018
By TIOLCORPLAWS News Service
NEW DELHI, MAY 21, 2018: The Competition Commission of India celebrated its 9th Annual Day on May 20, 2018 with a lecture delivered by Mr Rajiv Mehrishi, the Comptroller & Auditor General of India, on the topic Competition Law in India: Reflection and Rethinking. The lecture was attended by an audience representing, among others, business and industry, bureaucracy, regulatory authorities, chambers of commerce, legal fraternity and academics.
In his lecture, Mr Mehrishi emphasised the need of a market regulator to address the issue of market failure. He highlighted issues such as structure of regulatory bodies, interface of competition law with sectoral regulators, market power of the State, and the challenges thrown by the new economy in competition regulation. He expressed his concerns relating to market regulation in the new economy in terms of first mover advantage emanating from economies of scale, common shareholding, vertical integration, financing cartels.
With regard to interface with sectoral regulators, he flagged the issue of jurisdictional overlap with CCI, arising due to several sectoral regulators having competition provisions in their legislations. To resolve this overlap, he suggested statutory amendments and setting up of some engagement protocols between CCI and sectoral regulators. He also emphasized that given its specialized skills and experience across sectors, CCI is best placed to regulate markets on matters of competition.
Mr Devender Kumar Sikri, Chairperson, CCI, in his welcome address highlighted Commission's journey so far and stated that during the last nine years, Commission had reviewed 951 antitrust cases, 569 merger filings and had held more than 600 advocacy events. He emphasised that CCI had strived to nurture a culture of competition in markets through credible antitrust enforcement and regular engagement with stakeholders. He also cited the role of leniency provision of the Competition Act as an effective tool in detecting cartels.
