Competition agencies, regulators must ensure their actions are not at cross purposes: CEA

Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran

Competition agencies and sectoral regulators must ensure that their actions are not at cross purposes, the chief economic advisor has said.

“Regulators must seek to enhance fair practices in the industry they oversee. In contrast, competition agencies exercise their authority when necessary to strike down anti-competitive and unfair business practices. In addition to these ex-post actions, proactive measures must work to… protect competition in the market for continued growth,” V Anantha Nageswaran said at an event organised by the Competition Commission of India.

“However, regulators and competitive agencies must agree upon this ex-ante and ex-post balance between the two to avoid producing outcomes that work against the actions that either agency takes,” Nageswaran said.

The Competition Commission has been in the limelight recently due to its rulings against tech giant Alphabet. The government seeks to bolster the anti-trust watchdog with an amendment to the legislation.

Despite the difference in their modus operandi, interest of regulatory authorities and competition agencies often align, the chief economic advisor said.

The scope for cooperation between regulators and competition agencies is both practical and desirable. Through combined efforts regulators and competition agencies can lay down the framework that can prevent the creation of barriers to entry, the official said.

On the other hand, both competitive and regulatory actions can end up harming the aim to create a level playing field and agencies must be careful about overreach.