Business Ethics and Corporate Governance, Second Edition

THE MRTP ACT AND THE COMPETITION ACT

The Competition Act is meant to replace the MRTP Act, which controls and regulates the growth of enterprises. The MRTP Act presumes that all restrictive trade practices are anti-competitive and requires registration of the said agreements. Under the MRTP Act, dominance per se is considered bad. Under the Competition Act it is the ‘abuse of dominance’ that is considered bad. Therefore, the CCI can enquire into any agreement that is in contravention of the Act either in its own knowledge or on receipt of complaints or any reference by the central/state government only if dominance has been abused by an enterprise.

The Competition Act in contrast to the MRTP Act is more industry-friendly. It is designed to foster ...