COLLECTIVE BARGAINING UNDER COMPETITION LAW.

Abstract

To promote the principles of a free or open market economy after the major 1991economic reforms in India and foster competition amongst a range of market players, the Competition Act came into being in 2002, having a mandate from the Preamble of the Indian Constitution which enshrines economic justice and Article 19 (1) (g), which guarantees citizens the fundamental right to freedom of trade. The Competition Act, 2002, is a socio-economic legislation which strives to prevent anti-competitive practices, protect the interests of consumers and ensure freedom of trade and has established the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for the same. Today, as the Indian economy has big as well as small market players, an equal negotiating power is necessary for perfect competition in the market to prevail as envisaged by competition law. This can be achieved by allowing small and medium businesses to collectively bargain with bigger businesses to achieve economic goals in concurrence with one another and for public benefit. This power of collective bargaining does not refer to fixing a price but negotiating by setting upper and lower limits. The paper seeks to delve into ‘collective bargaining’ and put it forth as an exception to anti-competitive horizontal agreements under Section 3 of the Competition Act, 2002 while taking into consideration public benefit and consumer interest. Since competition law in our country is at a nascent stage, the paper has referred to jurisdictions like Australia wherein ‘collective bargaining’ has been given due recognition.