CCI Probes 35 Cartel Cases in Five Years: FM Nirmala Sitharaman
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has been actively pursuing anti-competitive practices, investigating 35 cartel cases across various sectors in the last five financial years (till March 13, 2025), Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed the Lok Sabha on Monday.
The Minister highlighted the CCI's efforts to foster cooperation in competition law and policy through Bilateral/Multilateral Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs). The CCI has signed MoUs with several countries and entities, including Egypt, Mauritius, Japan, Brazil, BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, China, and South Africa), Canada, the European Commission, Australia, and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). These MoUs facilitate enforcement cooperation between CCI and its partners, within the bounds of their respective legal frameworks, constraints, enforcement interests, and available resources.
The Minister also stated that India has signed 14 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with its trading partners. Some of these FTAs include a dedicated chapter on competition, mandating that each party take appropriate measures against anti-competitive activities to promote trade, investment flows, and efficient market functioning.
To proactively address anti-competitive behavior, the CCI has established a division for trend analysis and research across economic sectors.
The Competition (Amendment) Act, 2023, has further strengthened the CCI's arsenal by introducing the concept of "lesser penalty plus" under Section 46 of the Act. Consequently, the CCI (Lesser Penalty) Regulations, 2024, were notified on February 20, 2024, replacing the 2009 regulations and establishing a "lesser penalty plus" (LPP) mechanism to incentivize cartel disclosures. The LPP mechanism encourages an existing lesser penalty applicant to provide full and truthful disclosures about a previously unknown cartel to the CCI.
Furthermore, the 2023 Amendment Act has broadened the scope of cartel investigations by incorporating the "Hub & Spoke" mechanism through a proviso in Section 3(3) of the Competition Act, 2002. This provision clarifies that enterprises, associations, or individuals, even if not engaged in identical or similar trade, can be presumed to be part of an agreement if they participate or intend to participate in its furtherance.
The Minister emphasized that the CCI, through its enforcement and advocacy mandate, aims to promote and sustain competition by conducting
market studies, advocacy events, and training, and by undertaking market corrections to eliminate distortions.
In the last five financial years (till March 19, 2025), the CCI conducted 1446 advocacy programs.
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