In light of commerce and technology becoming increasingly integrated, there is a need for upgradation of technological aspects of Competition commission of India. Elaborate (200 Words)
Refer - Financial Express
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 3 years
KEY POINTS
· The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has been tasked with ensuring free and fair competition in markets as its mandate under the Competition Act, 2002.
· The CCI recently released a discussion paper on blockchain and the use thereof while complying with the rules of free and fair competition.
· Blockchain is a virtual chain of time-stamped information which contains an immutable record of data and is managed by a cluster of users of a blockchain application as opposed to a single authority.
· This provides benefits such as the potential to enhance efficiency in payments by removing the need for a centralised intermediary to bear the counterparty’s risk, ensure transparent supply chains.
· CCI noted the potential uses of blockchain to give effect to anticompetitive conduct not only amongst competitors, such as sensitive information exchanges, but also by dominant entities using a position of strength to prejudice others.
· Some issues such as jurisdiction can be addressed within the current framework of competition laws in India.
· Other issues persist such as variance with standards of data privacy and enforcement against anonymous entities.
· Accordingly, the CCI has stated that blockchain applications should be developed such that they comply with rules of competition, in addition to being sufficiently flexible to incorporate changes.
