Corporate Giants And Small Kirana: Market Competition And Fair-Trade Practices In Lucknow-A Legal Perspective
- IJLLR Journal
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Sriyank Raj Singh, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University.
Aayush Kumar Dubey, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University.
Aryan Shukla, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University.
ABSTRACT
India's retail landscape has undergone a fundamental shift, driven by the rise of quick-commerce platforms such as Zepto, Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and BigBasket Now. These digitally enabled, investor-backed services promising doorstep delivery within minutes have reshaped urban consumer habits and created unprecedented competitive pressure on traditional neighbourhood kirana stores. With over 13 million such shops forming the backbone of India's retail economy and sustaining employment for over 40 million people, the socio-economic stakes of this transformation are enormous.
This paper examines the competitive and legal tensions arising from this transformation, with a focus on Lucknow as a representative Tier-II urban setting. Drawing on a field study conducted between September and November 2024 involving 120 kirana store owners, 22 structured survey respondents, and supplementary stakeholder interviews, the study documents revenue declines averaging 25–35 per cent, profit margin compression from 12–15 per cent to 6–8 per cent, and near-universal unawareness of available legal remedies. Critically, not a single surveyed kirana owner had ever filed a complaint with the Competition Commission of India (CCI), despite widespread harm.
The paper argues that India's Competition Act, 2002 while conceptually sound is structurally inadequate for the digital retail environment, failing to address algorithmic pricing, data-driven market control, and venture-capital- funded below-cost selling. Specific reforms are proposed, including enhanced predatory pricing provisions, a new regulatory framework for quick-commerce platforms, regional CCI offices, legal aid mechanisms, and technology support programmes. The paper concludes that equitable retail development in India requires a coordinated policy response that allows technological innovation and corporate expansion to coexist with the viability of small traders and the communities they sustain.
