Archive · 21 Dec 2025
CCI's Struggle Against Cartelization in India
A long time ago, India had a rule to stop big companies from controlling everything.
But over time, this rule became weak.
Now, a few big companies control most things, like flights, phones, and paints.
The government has a group called CCI to stop this, but it's not doing a great job.
Some people think the government is helping these big companies instead of stopping them.
This makes it hard for smaller companies to compete, and people might have to pay more for things.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has struggled to prevent the growth of monopolistic and oligopolistic practices since its establishment in 2002.
Major sectors like civil aviation, telecom, and paints are dominated by a few large corporations, leading to concerns about cartelization and restrictive trade practices.
The merger of Air India and Vistara reduced the number of private airlines and increased market dominance, with IndiGo holding 60% and the merged entity 35% of the domestic market.
The government is accused of enabling cartelization, particularly in the civil aviation sector, by facilitating mergers and expansions of politically well-connected companies.
The CCI is criticized for not effectively addressing large-scale cartelization, focusing instead on smaller cases, and being under-staffed and often ignored.
- Who
- Competition Commission of India (CCI), Indian government, major corporations, and consumers
- What
- The struggle against cartelization and monopolistic practices in various sectors of the Indian economy
- When
- Ongoing issue with historical context dating back to the 1969 establishment of MRTPC and its replacement by CCI in 2002
- Where
- India, across various sectors including civil aviation, telecom, paints, steel, power, cement, online ads, and tyres
- Why
- To promote competitive markets and prevent the dominance of a few firms in each product or service space, ensuring fair competition and consumer benefits
- MRTPC
- Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission, set up in 1969, wound up in 1991
- CCI
- Competition Commission of India, established in 2002 to replace MRTPC
- IndiGo Market Share
- 60% of the civil aviation market
- Air India-Vistara Merger
- 35% of the domestic aviation market
- Dominant Players in Various Sectors
- Jio and Airtel (telecom), Asian Paints and Berger (paints), Tata and JSW (steel), Reliance, Adani, Tata and NTPC (power), UltraTech and Adani (cement), Google and Meta (online ads), Apollo, MRF and JK (tyres)
- Government's Role
- Accused of enabling cartelization, particularly in the civil aviation sector
- CCI's Activity
- Active in hearing and disposing of cases, but criticized for not addressing large-scale cartelization