A Comparative Analysis of Indian and US Competition Law with Regard to Unfair Trade Practices and its Enforcement Mechanism

ABSTRACT
Bhuvaneshwari M804
India and the United States are the world's two largest economies, with India's GDP standing
at ₹173.82 lakh crore and the United States' GDP at $28.269 trillion for the year 2023-24. As
two of the world's leading economies, India and the United States each have their own
approaches to maintaining a marketplace free from UTP and monopolies. In this Research
paper, the doctrinal method of study has been implemented to see how each country uses its
own legal strategies and framework to restrict the UTP and promote the competition. In
India, The Competition Commission of India was established under the Competition Act of
2002 which aim to prevent anti-competitive acts, promote market competition, safeguard
consumer interests and ensure free trade. It further aims to achieve these objectives through
two primary strategies, i.e., advocacy and enforcement. Advocacy aims to raise awareness
and provide training on competition issues, whereas enforcement targets businesses to ensure
compliance. Together, these activities aim to foster fair competition and improve consumer
welfare in Indian marketplaces and strictly prohibit anti-competitive agreements, abuse of
dominant position and certain combinations. In United States of America, the Congress
passed the Sherman Act, in 1890, the first antitrust law, to promote open and unrestrained
competition. This was followed by the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Clayton Act in
1914, which, along with the Sherman Act, serve as the cornerstone for current federal
antitrust legislation. These statutes ban unlawful mergers and business operations and courts
interpret their application based on individual instances. This paper aims to critically
analyze how these rules have evolved over the last century in both the countries to meet the
needs of evolving markets and to preserve consumer fair competition by encouraging efficient
business operations, lowering prices, and maintaining high standards