Algorithmic Collusion And CCI’s Wake-Up Call In The 2025 Report
- IJLLR Journal
- 14 hours ago
- 1 min read
Anushka Pachauri, UPES Dehradun
ABSTRACT
Artificial intelligence-driven pricing algorithms are transforming competition law enforcement by enabling collusive outcomes without human communication or explicit agreement. This article examines "algorithmic collusion" through the lens of the Competition Commission of India's (CCI) September 2025 Market Study on Artificial Intelligence and Competition, in which 37% of AI-using start-ups identified algorithmic collusion as their foremost competitive risk. Drawing on the CCI's four-fold taxonomy of collusion-prone algorithms and the OECD's October 2025 report on algorithmic pricing across G7 jurisdictions, the article analyzes how self- learning and signaling algorithms can produce a "black-box" problem that undermines the "meeting of minds" requirement central to Section 3 of the Competition Act, 2002. It evaluates India's regulatory trajectory—including the Samir Agrawal v. ANI Technologies precedent and the 2023 hub-and- spoke amendments—and critiques the CCI's proposed self-audit framework as a light-touch response. The article argues that meaningful enforcement powers and technical capacity-building are essential to prevent undetectable, algorithmically stable cartels.
