The Settlement And Commitment Apparatus In Competition Law

Aryan Shah, DES Navalmal Firodia Law College (Pune University)

Atharva Limaye, ILS (Pune University)

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

“Competition is not only the basis of protection to the consumer but is the incentive to progress.”

- Herbert Hoover

The Competition (Amendment) Act, 2023 w.e.f 06 March 2024 significantly amended the Competition Act, 2002 (Act) introducing key provisions enabling parties to approach with settlements and commitments to proactively manage any alleged contravention relating to anti- competitive vertical agreements and abuse of dominant position although not applicable to cases relating to cartels, while being investigated under the relevant sections of the Act. The successful implementation of these complex antitrust enforcement tools in established regulatory regimes such as the European Union and the United Kingdom makes a compelling case that these new amendments by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) will be successful in India as well. These tools offer the potential to significantly increase CCI’s efficiency in resource allocation, a key area currently hampered by lengthy investigations and litigations relating to anticompetitive conduct. This amendment allows parties under investigation to give an application of commitment or settlement which is taken into consideration by CCI during the investigation conducted against them relating to, S (3)(4) “anti-competitive vertical agreements” and S(4) “abuse of dominant position” of the Act.1