ABOUT THE COURSE:
The Centre for Competition Law and Economics is currently accepting registrations for its 2nd batch of foundational course on Indian Competition Law and Economics. The course is designed in a manner so that it covers all the three substantive provisions of the law, i.e. anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position and merger control. There are a couple of sessions on the law and economics framework and enforcement aspect as well, in order to inform the participants with various aspects of the law and form a holistic approach. The course would be an ideal take for the candidates who are either planning to begin their career in the field of law and economics, or are at the mid-career level stage. The course would also lay foundation for academicians who are willing to take long-term research in the said field and explore potential career opportunities.
ABOUT THE ORGANISATION:
The Centre for Competition Law and Economics (CCLE) is a research organization working in the field of competition law and economics. The Centre publishes research reports, conducts training activities and assists litigating parties at competition fora across the country to advocate consistent interpretation of the Indian competition law. The Centre regularly collaborates with national law universities and other non-profit organizations to organize seminars, conferences and workshops for the relevant stakeholders to generate capacity in the said field based on mutual interest.
DETAILS OF THE COURSE:
The foundational course on Indian competition law and economics is run by the CCLE. The aim of the course is to train young students, working professionals, governmental officials and other interested participants in the field of competition law and economics. There are total 15 hours of classes spanned over a period of four weeks on weekends in the afternoon(3-5 PM). In all, there would be 10 sessions of one and half an hour each.
Some of our faculties for the course include:
1. Ms. Anisha Chand, Partner, Khaitan & Co.
2. Ms. Avaantika Kakkar, Co-Head, Competition Practice, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas
3. Dr. Christian Bergqvist, Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen
4. Dr. Geeta Gouri, Economist, Ex-CCI Member
5. Dr. Ajay Shah, Economist, Former Professor, National School of Public Finance & Policy, New Delhi
6. Mr. Anshuman Sakle, Partner, Khaitan & Co.
7. Dr. Abha Yadav, Assistant Professor, National Law University, Delhi
8. Mr. G. R. Bhatia, Head, Competition Practice, Luthra & Luthra Partners
9. Mr. Praveen Tripathi, Associate Professor of Law, NLU Jabalpur
10. Dr. Versha Vahini, Professor of Law, Bennett University
11. Ms. Nikita Koradia, Assistant Professor of Law, Nirma University
12. Ms. Deeksha Manchanda, Partner, Chandhiok & Mahajan
13. Mr. Sumit Jain, Senior Resident Fellow, Centre for Competition Law & Economics
There are, in total, seven units in the course. A brief description of each of the units is given below. The participants would be provided modules for each unit.
1. Philosophy of competition law – This module orients the participants towards the origin and genesis of competition laws across the globe. The history of the current Indian legislation, i.e. the Competition Act, 2002, would be traced along with its impact on the overall regulatory framework and public policy of the Indian state. Recent amanedments in the current Act will also be discussed in this module.
2. Anti-competitive Agreements – Anti-competitive Agreements (ACA) is one of the three substantive provisions of the Indian competition law. The participants here would be exposed to the definition of ‘agreement’ and which type of conduct is impermissible under the law. This would cover horizontal agreements (cartels), vertical agreements and the overlap between competition laws and IPR. A brief discussion would also be held on the penalty imposed by the Competition Commission of India in recent orders on Maruti Suzuki and beer manufacturing companies.
3. Abuse of Dominance – Abuse of dominant position, or unilateral conduct, is another substantive provision under the Indian competition law. The participants would be exposed to the concept of ‘relevant market’, ‘substitutability’ and the factors affecting dominance of an economic entity after the relevant market is defined. The thrust of this unit would be identify the conduct which constitutes as abuse of dominant position both in terms of the pricing, and terms and conditions, imposed by the dominant entity.
4. Mergers and Acquisitions – This unit would focus on the competition concerns arising out of various mergers and acquisitions happening in the Indian economy. The competition regulators across the globe have to maintain a balance between the efficiencies arising out of such mergers on one hand, and keeping a check on the concentration of market power due to these on the other. The participants would be exposed to overall merger jurisprudence through case-law method and the factors based on which a merger is assessed. The Indian regulator had recently incorporated ‘Green Channel’ for the acquiring entities under Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) on which a brief discussion would be held.
5. Competition in Digital Markets – The advent of Big Tech firms has revolutionized the growth of service economies. The concept of ‘winner takes all’ and ‘network effects’ has probably led to consequences which were never thought-of in a brick-and-mortar economy. This module would focus on the business operations of various data-aggregating firms like Google, Apple, Meta and Amazon, their revenue-generation model, concept of ‘self preferencing’ and ‘user-attention’ as a currency, and case for potential anti-competitive conduct by such entities to the detriment of consumers. The said firms have increasingly become a subject of scrutiny for various competition regulators across the globe and a brief discussion would be held on the same keeping in mind the overall jurisprudence of the law.
6. Competition Law and Regulatory Governance – The current Indian competition law was enacted in 2002. The said enactment was part of the larger policy framework designed by the Indian state to open the economy for private players. This unit would expose the participants to various sectoral regulators incorporated post liberalization and how competition has served more as a ‘policy’ than ‘law’. The question of jurisdictional overlap between various regulators would also be briefly discussed.
7. International competition law – The genesis of the current Indian competition law majorly lies in the European Union (EU). The nature and structure of the current Indian legislation is very much drawn from the EU, even though the national competition authorities pay equal reliance on the US jurisprudence while deciding questions of law. Through this unit, the participants would be exposed to the substantive US antitrust and European competition law and its possible interfaces with the Indian law. The participants would also be exposed to various leniency programmes run in these jurisdictions like commitment and settlement scheme, amnesty programme et al.
IMPORTANT DATES:
15th October, 2023 – Last day to register
21st October, 2023 – Commencement of classes
21st November, 2023 – End of classes
21st November, 2023 – Assessment
COURSE FEE:
The overall course fee for the participants is INR 3,500/- (including registration fee). Limited slots are available.
Link for registration is here.
For any further queries, please feel free to reach out at centrecomplaw@gmail.com or at +91 70670 21640.
