Backgrounder International
Conference Objectives
Background Competition policy is an integral part of economic policy. The main objective of competition policy and law is to preserve and promote competition as a means to ensure efficient allocation of resources, resulting in best possible choice of quality, lowest prices and adequate supplies to consumers. Government policies such as trade policy, industrial policy, regulatory reforms, etc. may encourage or impede competition and hence consumer welfare. Thus, although a competition law may be quite narrow in its scope, competition policy is much broader and comprehensive in its scope and seeks to bring harmony in all the Government policies. For almost half a century since attaining Independence in 1947, India adopted and followed policies comprising what are known as “command-and-control” laws and regulations. The competition law of India, namely, the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Act, 1969 was one such. Widespread economic reforms have been undertaken since early ’nineties, which have significantly changed the economic environment in the country. The MRTP Act was considered inadequate to deal with the emerging economic order. In view of this, India adopted a new competition law, the Competition Act 2002 to replace the MRTP Act.
Context India is at the cross roads of implementing a new competition law. However, the country is yet to have a stated Competition Policy. The reason perhaps is lack of awareness about competition policy and its adverse and positive impact on various sections of the economy. Concerns have been expressed that a lack of awareness about competition policy, and the nature and extent of prevalence of different types of anti-competitive practices in India will pose a major challenge. There has not been much research on competition issues in India. A study by CUTS done under the 7-Up Project [1] revealed a crying need to do deeper research in some sectors, which display typically anti-competitive behaviour: cement; trucking; services such as cable TV etc. Against this backdrop, CUTS has undertaken the project to develop a Functional Competition Policy for India as an attempt to fill the gap and help the Government of India to come up with a Competition Policy that is ‘implementable’ as against one that is ‘ideal’. Besides, the project report identifies key competition issues in the country and provides a roadmap for the Competition Commission of India to undertake further research. The Event To involve national and international experts including government, business chambers and representatives of consumer organisations to deliberate on the findings and recommendations of the project. The meeting would be interactive in nature and designed to facilitate exchange of national and international experiences on the issues identified in the project. The Programme 0900 – 0930 Registration 0930 – 1000 Inaugural Session 1000 – 1130 Session I: Competition Policy in India: Evolution and Current Scenario 1130 – 1200 Tea/Coffee 1200 – 1330 Session II: Interface between Competition and Regulation 1330 – 1430 Lunch 1430 – 1600 Session III: Cross-border Competition Issues and Competition Act, 2002 1600 – 1630 Tea/Coffee 1630 – 1800 Session IV: Competition Issues at the Sub-national Level 1830 hours Reception & Dinner Day Two 0900 – 1030 Session V: Competition Issues in Utilities (Energy & Communications) 1030 – 1100 Tea/Coffee 1100 – 1230 Session VI: Competition Issues in Manufacturing Sector 1230 – 1400 Session VII: Competition Issues in Pharmaceutical Sector 1400 – 1500 Lunch 1500 – 1630 Session VIII: Implementation Issues and Way Forward 1630 – 1700 Tea/Coffee Venue: The Claridges Organised by: CUTS
Centre for Competition, Investment & Economic Regulation (C-CIER) [1] CUTS (2003), “Pulling Up Our Socks - A Study of Competition Regimes of Seven Developing Countries of Africa and Asia: The 7-Up Project”, CUTS, Jaipur. |
Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS)D-217, Bhaskar Marg, Bani Park Jaipur 302016, Rajasthan, India Email: cuts@cuts.org
Phone: 91.141.228 2821-3 |
D–217, Bhaskar Marg, Bani Park, Jaipur 302 016, Rajasthan, India Ph: 91.141.2282821, Fax: 91.141.2282485 Hosted by: www.fullestop.com |