Author : Dr. Sukhvinder Singh Dari 1
Date of Publication :20th December 2017
Abstract: The Competition Act, 2002 seeks to regulate those activities that may cause appreciable adverse effect on the competition. Having an effective competition regime ensures that the consumer interest is not being compromised in any way and that the market is free from any anticompetitive element. The scope of this research paper is limited to Section 4 of The Competition Act 2002. An abuse of dominance occurs when an entity that holds a dominant position prevents or lessens the competition in the market, by using its power. The Competition Commission of India on many occasions has condemned enterprises abusing their dominant status and has imposed huge penalties. This paper is a comprehensive guide for those who want to understand how Section 4 of the Act that pertains to abuse of dominance, can be applied in various scenarios. What amounts to abuse of dominance cannot be determined easily and requires a detailed investigation. This paper will furnish a basic idea as to how the Competition Commission of India has assessed a Section 4 violation in sector like Health care and pharmaceuticals. The research paper sets forth the law in relation to Abuse of Dominance in India with reference to health care and pharmaceutical industries and explains the various requirements to bring out a successful case under Section 4 of the Act. Subsequently deals with a specific sector and demonstrates with the help of case studies how the Commission defined the relevant market, how the assessment was pertaining to dominance done and how did the Commission come to a conclusion that there was an abuse. Finally the paper gives a fair idea as to how risk can be identified, assessed and mitigated
Reference :
-
- Cyril Shroff, Nisha Kaur Uberoi, India: Abuse of Dominance, The Asia Pacific Anti-Trust Review, Available at http://http : // globalcompetitionreview.com / reviews /69 /sections /235 /chapters /2749 /indiaabuse-dominance /, Last visited 20.10.2015.
- Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2002.
- Section 2(r) of the Competition Act, 2002.
- Section 2(t) of the Competition Act, 2002.
- Dr. S. Chakravarthy, 'Relevant Market in Competition Case Analyses', Available at http://circ.in/pdf/relevant_market-in-competitioncase-analyses.pdf , Last Visited 16.10.2015.
- Vinod Dhall, 'Abuse of Dominance in Competition Law', Available at http://http: //articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2007-04-04 /news /28385373 _1 _competition-law dominance - market , Last Visited 16.09.2015. Case No. 39 of 2012
- Shri Tarun Patel v. Haria Lakhamshi Govindji Rotary Hospital Case 49 of 2015 Available at http://http : // consumer- voice. Org /comparative –product – testing /Service-Test /What -are- Super –Speciality - Hospitals and accessed as on 12.10.2015.
- Paragraph 9 Order under Section 26(1) Vivek Sharma v. Max Super Speciality Hospital Case No. 77 of 2015.