HORIZONTAL AGREEMENTS AND THREATS TO COMPETITION IN THE TELECOM SECTOR IN INDIA
The economic development of India is one of the many things that have depended heavily on the telecom sector, but it is also a fragile area as far as anti-competitive practices are concerned. Horizontal agreements among competitors can be reduced by price-fixing, bid-rigging, and market allocation, resulting in possible output restrictions. This research paper provides an exhaustive evaluation of the effects that these horizontal agreements have on competition within India’s telecom industry.
The main purpose is to identify specific instances of anti-competitiveness, assess their impact on consumers and industry, and suggest measures to combat them. According to the core hypothesis of this study, competition in the telecommunications industry gets affected adversely by horizontal agreements such as cartels and price fixing, which ultimately lead to high prices, decreased customer choice, and market distortions.
Doctrinal methodology will be used in this research, which involves looking at various materials, such as statutory laws and existing journals, using secondary sources like commentaries and committee reports, among others.
It involves a detailed review of the Competition Act 2002 and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Act 1997, with a focus on different cases, including United States v. L. Cohen Grocery Co., Builders Association vs. Cement Manufacturer Association, and BSNL vs. TRAI. For instance, in the past they have been declared illegal as a horizontal agreement. The work also identifies notable anticompetitive practices common in the telecommunications industry, such as price fixing, bid rigging, market sharing, and output restrictions.
The departure of any one among Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone-Idea, who have 88.4% market share, could result in a duopoly, which would raise serious concerns. The study examines regulatory frameworks applied by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and TRAI, which acknowledge that there is a need for cooperative frameworks to deal with anticompetitive practices.
It proposes that transparency should be increased; predatory pricing should be made illegal, while regulatory authorities should seek synergy amongst themselves in order to ensure fairness in competition. Joint efforts by CCI as well as TRAI can help create coordinated policies capable of barring anticompetitive threats, leading to an improved business setting within this field too.
