Summaries by Vivek Agarwal, Divyansh Prasad

2 summaries by this author.

Supportive

Expect a crackdown on HR practices that violate antitrust laws: the labour market needs competition too

The Competition Commission of India must address antitrust issues in Indian labour markets. Globally, agencies are cracking down on no-poach and wage-fixing agreements, practices evident in India's IT and banking sectors. Collusion, extending to freelancers, can include informal exchanges on recruitment and even AI-enabled tools. Businesses must proactively invest in competition compliance, auditing HR policies, and training to mitigate risks. The CCI should undertake market studies, engage stakeholders, and expand scrutiny to dominant employers' unilateral practices like non-compete clauses. A calibrated enforcement approach by the CCI, combined with business compliance, will foster healthy competition and complement government reforms.

LiveMint · Vivek Agarwal, Divyansh Prasad · Sep 7, 2026 at 6:42 AM

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Critical

The Supreme Court’s Amazon ruling has revealed a gap in the CCI’s authority over corporate mergers

The Supreme Court's Amazon-Future verdict provided crucial guidance on the CCI’s merger-control powers, clarifying the one-year sunset period and limitations on revoking approvals. This ruling exposed the CCI's vulnerability to deception and its insufficient deterrence against misrepresentation due to modest penalties. Authors advocate for tightening India's merger control regime. They recommend increasing Section 44 penalties, linking them to transaction scale, and granting the CCI limited revocation authority for fraud-related approvals. European experience supports such reforms, which could preserve predictability and reinforce disclosure obligations, ensuring market confidence despite initial challenges.

LiveMint · Vivek Agarwal, Divyansh Prasad · Jun 23, 2026 at 7:00 AM

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