Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used for “collusion” by sections of Indian industry, Ravneet Kaur, chairperson of Competition Commission of India (CCI) said on Sunday, adding that the regulator would equip itself to deal with it.
“Companies are using AI to coordinate prices without explicit agreements, and are engaging in algorithmic discrimination under the garb of dynamic pricing,” she said.
According to Kaur, rapid adoption of AI which has become a driving force in modern markets. “Through the use of AI, we are seeing that there could be potential ways of collusion which doesn’t require human intervention. The regulators need to be up to date, be abreast of these develoopments, and its implications for competition,” she said.
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The CCI chairperson also said that today, the market power is about network effects, data and platform reach. “The innovation in technology and emergence of new business models are happening at an astronomical pace. At the same time, regulations need to encourage innovation while ensuring that we have a dynamic and proactive approach in balancing innovation with competition,” Kaur said.
In 2024 alone, 42 antitrust cases came before the commission, and prime facie violations were found and detailed investigations were ordered in 8 cases.
“All the cases which were received by the commission last year have been placed before the commission once. So either a view has already been taken or additional information has been sought,” Kaur said adding that in the last 15 years, more than 1,300 antitrust cases have been received by CCI and out of which, 1180 cases have been disposed of.
On the combinations front, Kaur said that the CCI had received M&A proposals in various sectors. “In 2024, we received 128 combination notices, and all of them were cleared within the timeline. Overall, we have a 98% disposal of combination proposals in the last 15 years,” she said.
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The CCI chairperson said that the antitrust regulator has been actively looking at ways to avoid delays in delivering final orders. She said that in the case of Amazon and Flipkart, after the DG (investigations) reports were received,
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