We have developed a robust and sophisticated competition law practice. We work closely with economists, accountants and other professionals to offer our clients a one stop shop for all competition law matters.

Our competition practice consists of the entire spectrum of competition law including merger control, investigation and enforcement actions, reviewing agreements to ensure compliance with competition law and providing advisory services on all aspects of competition law.

 We regularly represent our clients before the Competition Commission of India (‘CCI’) and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), High Court as well as Supreme Court for alleged anti-competitive practices as well as for proposed mergers and acquisitions.

We have been successful in obtaining timely clearances from the CCI for several mergers and acquisitions. We work closely with our clients to formulate competition compliance policies and have also undertaken workshops and training sessions on competition law for some of the largest corporate houses in India.

We have successfully defended clients in various enquiries/investigations by the Competition Commission of India in matters which had/have far reaching impact on their marketing policies and the way they do business in India, besides financial ramifications.

We have provided clients strategic advice in structuring their business and modified their agreements with their business partners to avoid any possible competition issues.

Anti-Competitive Agreements

The Competition Act, 2002 (the Competition Act) empowers the CCI to scrutinize agreements – both horizontal and vertical, to see whether they result in an appreciable adverse effect on competition in the relevant market in India. Our team has advised numerous domestic and international companies in a number of sectors, on the compatibility of provisions contained in supply and distribution agreements, as well as other exclusive arrangements, cartel investigations, joint ventures etc. for compliance with the provisions of the Competition Act.

Abuse of Dominant Position

Preventing abuse of dominant position appears to be one of the key focus areas of the CCI’s enforcement policy. MB Jain & Partners Competition Law & Policy team has handled the first abuse of dominance case in India, on behalf of the complainant, where the CCI found in favour of the complainant. Our team continues to represent various enterprises for alleged abuse of dominance claim before the CCI, COMPAT and the Supreme Court of India. We have also advised several domestic and foreign firms with significant market power in designing their pricing and discount programs with our clients ranging from sectors including information technology, polymer and automotive components.

Merger Control

MB Jain & Partners provides its clients a varied range of services from end to end of a transaction, which entails identifying competition law issues at the due diligence stage, determining application of merger control provisions in the earlier stages and preparing merger filings for it to be filed with the CCI at the start of the trigger to save timelines and get expedited approvals.

The team offers comprehensive merger control guidance, including:

• advice on structuring of transactions for the purposes of merger control;
• applicability of merger control provisions on transactions and where required, filing merger notifications with the CCI, including preparation of merger filings and follow-up responses to questions raised;
• preparing detailed economic market analysis, including engaging an economist (where required) to be presented to the CCI as part of the notification; and
• conducting pre-merger consultations with the CCI to seek clarity on contentious issues.

Our practice group has worked closely with domestic and multinational enterprises and international law firms to provide advice on various aspects of the merger control regulations. Members of our team have worked on various merger notifications, including some complex Form II merger notifications filed with the CCI.

Cartel Investigations

With a threat of heavy fines and wide powers of search and seizure enjoyed by the CCI, several large corporations are wary of potential cartel investigations. MB Jain & Partners Competition Law & Policy team has represented clients in the most high-profile cartel investigations initiated by the CCI in cases dealing with anti-competitive horizontal agreements and cartels. Our team also advises clients on potential cartel investigations and provides solution-oriented advice on steps to be taken to avoid scrutiny by the CCI. Additionally, the team has also advised clients on filing ‘information’ before the CCI on cartelization as part of a broader leniency strategy and is representing various entities in pending cartel investigations before the CCI and COMPAT.

Competition Compliance Programs

MB Jain & Partners Competition Law & Policy team offers tailor made “Competition Compliance” programs to its clients. Such a competition compliance review program assists enterprises in understanding the various requirements of the Competition Act and taking steps to ensure that business is conducted in accordance with such requirements.

A typical competition compliance program undertaken by MB Jain & Partners includes analyzing provisions in standard agreements, structuring discount and pricing schemes, preparing for dawn raids, re-drafting corporate communications and various other functions in the day-to-day business of a company. Our team conducts the competition compliance reviews on the basis of structured questionnaires and ensures that our clients are made aware of areas of risk flowing from their business and operations with a view to providing them advice on steps designed to ameliorate those risks.