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Centre
for Competition, Investment and Economic Regulation |
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CUTS has been working in the area of competition policy and consumer protection issues since its inception in 1984. The involvement was mainly by way of litigation in the initial stages but the work developed very soon. Similarly, CUTS started its work on investment and economic regulation since 1992 when the international community was debating the draft UN Code of Conduct for transnational corporations. Several meetings were organised on these issues both nationally and internationally, quite a few research and advocacy projects were taken up and CUTS became well known in India and abroad. Considering the huge amount of work that CUTS has been engaged in for the past few years in the areas of competition policy, investment and economic regulation and other related issues, a new centre, CUTS-CCIER has been established in 2003. The youngest baby of CUTS, the Centre has an International Advisory Committee, headed by a renowned economist, Prof. Frederic Jenny, Conseiller, Chambre Commerciale, Financiere et Economique, Cour de Cassation (The Supreme Court), France. The mission of CUTS-CCIER is: “PROMOTING
FAIR MARKETS TO ENHANCE Shaping
Competition Culture The research conducted under this project has thrown up some very interesting findings and the results were presented at a symposium organised in Geneva in February 2003. The project and the meeting have received wide acclamation and excellent feedback from all over the world. Among several others, the comments received from DFID are worth noting: “All concerned have praised it as an excellent meeting of the 7-Up1 Project held last week in Geneva. … was impressed with what has been achieved under the project, including the degree of international buy-in”, commented Roger Nellist, Acting Head, Private Sector Policy Department, DFID. As a natural fallout of the project, considerable demands have been made for doing similar work in other countries. As a result, a similar project (7Up2) involving six developing countries of Asia has been launched in April 2004. Another such project (7Up3) involving select countries of the Southern and Eastern African region is due to be launched in early 2005. Plans have been formulated to do similar projects in other regions as well. Promoting
Fair and Effective Regulation The Centre was also part of the consultations throughout the process of drafting the new Electricity Act in India. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy also invited the Centre to comment on the final draft of the legislation. Presently, the Centre is represented in the Advisory Committee of the Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission, the electricity regulator for the largest Indian state. The Centre is also registered with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and being consulted on every major policy decision, including Universal Service Obligation and Unified Telecom Licensing. Recently, the Planning Commission of India, the apex planning institution of the Union Government, has asked the Centre to help in developing a comprehensive and robust regulatory framework for infrastructure service in the country. The Centre is involved in capacity building efforts as well by executing pilot-scale programmes. All these experiences have helped the Centre to expand its base and profile to take up necessary research and policy advocacy activities on regulatory issues both at the national and international levels, which the Centre intends to undertake soon. Recently, the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Programme (South Asia) has conducted a comparative study of electricity regulation in five Indian states which was peer reviewed at the Centre. Upholding
Consumer Rights A comprehensive law covering consumer protection, competition and utility regulation was prepared by C-CIER, along with an institutional framework to implement the law. The Centre plans to use the blueprint as a role model and publish a paper that could be useful in similar socio-economic settings. A report “The State of the Indian Consumer” examining the plight of Indian consumers in the light of the UN Guidelines on Consumer Protection was published in 2001. The framework of analysis used in the study can be useful for conducting similar studies in other countries. CUTS is regularly approached by several governments and non-governmental organisations for providing advices on the issue. Making
Investment Work Ever since the draft UN Code of Conduct for TNCs was being debated by the international community in 1992, CUTS has been active in the area through research and advocacy. CUTS was also active on the OECD guidelines for MNEs and the OECD draft MAI (Multilateral Agreement on Investment). CUTS made a quantum leap in this area when a two-year project on investment issues, Investment for Development (IFD) was started in September 2001. The project, supported by DFID, UK, and implemented in collaboration with UNCTAD aimed to identify the policies that developing countries should implement to make FDI work for them. The project ended with an international conference at Geneva in January 2004. Considering the success of the project, UNCTAD, in an annexe to the Sao Paulo Consensus has recognised CUTS as one of its strategic partners and has expressed its intention to work with CUTS in future. Making
Services Accessible Capacity
Building of CSOs: INCSOC With this background, the “International Network of Civil Society Organisations on Competition” (INCSOC) was established with the initiative of the Centre. The objectives of the Network are to build coalitions and capacity of civil society organisations interested in promoting a healthy competition culture.
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| COMPETITION | ||
1. Projects
2. Documentation |
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| INVESTMENT | ||
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1 Projects More on Investment: www.worldbank.org/icsid.htm
1.
Developing Regulatory Framework for Infrastructure Services Besides organising rigorous consultations with the representative of various stakeholders the Centre conducted the research of regulatory experiences in selected developing countries and submitted the report to the Planning Commission. Follows the key recommendations of the Report. Full Report 2.
Capacity Building on Electricity Regulation The project is being supported by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), a German agency, since last three years. The programme aim at help the target groups better understand varied dimensions of independent regulation and impart necessary skills to effectively represent their interests. The project activities include need assessment, collecting primary data, conducting action-oriented research, develop resource material, and organising focused training workshops. The targeted groups are being trained to undertake techno-commercial analyse of the data provided by the utilities and effectively articulate their concerns. The World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Programme (South Asia) has identified this initiative as one of the best practice in India that has helped the consumers to raise their voice and represent their interests, effectively. This pilot programme has helped the Centre to better understand the capacity building requirements and the process as well, in specific context of developing economies. The Centre intent to leverage upon this valued experience and scale-up capacity building programmes catering to the specific requirements of various stakeholders. 3. Consumer Friendly Cable TV System 4. Comparative Study of Sectoral Regulation in Select Developing Countries 5. Retreat on Regulatory Autonomy & Accountability 1. “Regulatory Framework for Infrastructure Sector in India” |
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CUTS
Centre for Competition, Investment & Economic Regulation (C-CIER) |
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Copyright 2005, Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS), All
rights reserved. D-217, Bhaskar Marg, Bani Park, Jaipur 302 016, India Ph: 91.141.2282821, Fax: 91.141.2282485 |
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