Restrictive And Unfair Trade Practices In India: A Critical Review Of Legal And Judicial Trends
- IJLLR Journal
- Oct 25
- 2 min read
Shravana, Christ University, Bangalore
ABSTARCT
The rapid development of the Indian digital economy has proven that the legal and institutional framework of control over oppressive and unfair trade practices has severe loopholes. The current structures do not react to the following problems: algorithm collusion, predatory pricing in the online market, and deceitful consumer behavior, which leads to the immediate need to reflect on the adequacy of the current competition and consumer protection laws. In this context, the liberalization and digitalization of India, represented by the introduction of the Competition Act, 2002, and the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, provide the regulatory background to the interests of beneficial competition and consumers. The current research paper is focused on the critical assessment of the responsiveness of these statutes and the responsible institutions to the evolving risks of the online market. It proposes the changes that could be implemented to improve the market's fairness and the consumer's welfare. The research methodology will be based on a doctrinal and analytical approach, and it will be anchored on statutory interpretation, judicial precedents, regulatory orders, scholarly materials, and the experience of other jurisdictions, particularly the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom. The discussion reveals that, despite the conceptual and progressive nature of the Indian legal system, the system has issues of definition, duplication of jurisdictions between the Competition Commission of India and the Central Consumer Protection Authority, adjudicative slowness, and an unsuccessful preparedness to handle emergent dangers in a data-driven economy. It is a limitation of the research because the researchers utilize the available legal sources and secondary literature, compared to field research. Nevertheless, the findings directly affect policymakers, regulators, and the judiciary. They provide a clue on aligning the legal techniques with the dynamics of a rapidly changing digitizing economy. The research is original and valuable to the existing literature because it uses the lenses of competition law and consumer protection to provide a comprehensive view that reflects the nexus existing between market fairness and consumer welfare, and, therefore, prevents the current debate of modernization of the regulation marketplace of the digital market in India.
Keywords: Unfair trade practices, Restrictive trade practices, MRTP Act, Competition Act, Consumer Protection Act, Competition Commission of India.
