CCI stepped up cartel investigations with 35 probes in five years: FM Sitharaman

Amid ongoing investigations by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) into media agencies, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed the Lok Sabha on Monday that the CCI had investigated a total of 35 cartel cases across various sectors over the past five financial years, as of March 13, 2025. To further strengthen cartel investigations, the Hub-and-Spoke mechanism was incorporated into Section 3(3) of the Competition Act, 2002, through the Amendment Act of 2023.

This provision states that an enterprise, an association of enterprises, or a person not engaged in an identical or similar trade may still be presumed to be part of an anti-competitive agreement if they participate in or intend to further such an agreement.

Notably, last week, the offices of Dentsu, Omnicom, Havas, Madison, IPG, GroupM, Publicis and industry bodies AAAI, ISA, and IBDF were raided over allegations of media cartelization.

The Finance Minister further stated that the Commission has a dedicated division for trend analysis and research across various economic sectors to gain a comprehensive understanding and detect potential anti-competitive activities. The Competition (Amendment) Act, 2023, introduced the concept of "lesser penalty plus" under Section 46 of the Act. As a result, on February 20, 2024, the CCI (Lesser Penalty) Regulations, 2024, were notified, replacing the 2009 regulations and introducing the "lesser penalty plus" (LPP) mechanism. This mechanism incentivizes an existing lesser penalty applicant in a cartel case to provide full, truthful, and critical disclosures about another undiscovered cartel.

Through its enforcement and advocacy efforts, the CCI aims to promote and sustain competition in the markets by conducting market studies, organizing advocacy events, and providing training on competition-related issues, in addition to implementing market corrections to eliminate distortions. Over the last five financial years (as of March 19, 2025), the CCI conducted 1,446 advocacy programs.

The CCI has also signed bilateral and multilateral Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with Egypt, Mauritius, Japan, Brazil, BRICS (Brazil, Russia, China, and South Africa), Canada, the European Commission, Australia, and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) to facilitate cooperation in competition law and policy. These MoUs include provisions for enforcement cooperation between the CCI and its partners, subject to their respective legal frameworks, constraints, enforcement interests, and available resources.

Additionally, India has signed 14 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with its trading partners. Some of these FTAs include a dedicated chapter on competition, requiring each party, in accordance with its laws and regulations, to take appropriate measures against anti-competitive activities to facilitate trade and investment flows and ensure the efficient functioning of the market.