In this Roundup, we highlight the main developments in Indian competition law in September 2019.

Abuse of dominance

Supreme Court Requests Director General to Continue Investigation

Deciding on an appeal from the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), the Supreme Court
requested the Director General, CCI (DG) to continue investigating allegations relating to abuse of dominance by Uber in the National Capital Region (NCR). In considering whether the Competition Commission of India (CCI) had made out a prima facie case of abuse of dominance for the DG to investigate, the Court found that the losses allegedly incurred by Uber each trip made it difficult to say that there was no prima facie case of abuse. If, in fact, Uber incurred a loss for trips made, this would be prima facie indicative of dominance and of a pricing abuse. It should be stressed that this case only addressed what was required for the CCI to make a prima facie finding of breach. The CCI has considered competition in this sector on several occasions, always finally finding neither Uber nor its local competitor Ola Cabs to be dominant, on account of the fierce competition between them.

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