CCI 'getting ready' to act on anti-trust AI practises, says chairperson Ravneet Kaur

"We look at competition leading to success based on merit," said Kaur.

• CCI targets fair competition in sports, aviation, paints, liquor.
• CCI prepares to address anti-competitive practices in AI.
• 90 percent of anti-trust cases have been resolved by CCI.

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The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is "now getting ready" to take action on any anti-competitive practises that might emerge on the artificial intelligence front, chairperson Ravneet Kaur said on March 16.

Kaur also said the anti-trust watchdog is looking at matters in sports, civil aviation, paints and varnishes and the liquor sectors, as it remains committed to a fair market.

"We have identified potential anti-competitive conduct , which could be concentration on AI value chain, algorithmic collusion, price discrimination, or any opaqueness in the AI applications," Kaur said. She was speaking at 11th National Conference on Economics of Competition Law in New Delhi.

In a market study, released in October, CCI said to curb AI-triggered unfair business practices, enterprises needed to self-audits their artificial intelligence systems to address potential competition concerns. The watchdog should strengthen its technical capabilities as well as infrastructure.

"Self-audit by the stakeholders, as to how they can ensure that any the stage of deployment of AI applications, there aren’t any hidden anti-competitive outcomes, which maybe happening sometimes knowingly and sometimes unknowingly," Kaur said.

The rapid growth and adoption of AI has fanned competition, fanning concerns over data monopolies, algorithmic collusion and pricing among others.

Around 90 percent of the anti-trust matters received by the regulator have been disposed of. "We have received 1360 anti-trust cases, of which 1290 have already been decided," Kaur said.

On the merger front, the CCI has a proactive, systematic, and consistent approach. "The approach followed by the commission is solution- oriented — we won’t block a merger, and only look at voluntary modifications."

Cartelisation and bid-rigging are the issues that CCI looks at in 2025 and orders were passed with regards to defence procurement sectors, solid waste management, Kaur said.

The core of competition law lies in assessing whether market actions have an adverse effect on competition," she said. “And that assessment has to be made on economic principles – market structure, pricing strategies, concentration levels in the markets. Economics is at the centre of our work," the CCI chairperson said.

“We look at competition leading to success based on merit, and not based on exclusionary, exploitative, and anti-competitive conduct."