Competition watchdog and sector regulators need to work together: CCI chief

New Delhi, April 19, 2011

“Competition Commission of India and sector regulators need to develop a functioning coordination mechanism for better regulatory actions given that their boundaries are not fully segmented,” said Dhanendra Kumar, Chairman of the Competition Commission of India. He was speaking at an International Conference on Reviewing the Global Experience on Economic Regulation. The conference is orgnised by CUTS International and CUTS Institute for Regulation & Competition. More than 60 experts from around the world are taking part in deliberations on diverse issues of economic regulation.

Given the complexity of the Indian economy and its political economy factors, there is a greater need for a more inclusive consultation to act and take policy decisions, Kumar added. One of the objectives of the event is to discuss corrective measures that should be integrated into the evolution and integration of regulatory regimes.

Speaking at the opening session, Arun Maira, Member of the Planning Commission highlighted how critical it was for a country like India to effectively implement regulatory policies. “It is important to identify indicators of market failure and do necessary readjustment in the system of economic governance. An effective regulatory mechanism is an essential requirement for that to happen smoothly,” he said.

Frederic Jenny, a judge in the Supreme Court of France and Chairman of OECD’s Competition Committee raised a fundamental question of whether we are better placed to discern market failures than what we did before and highlighted the need for greater consistency across various regulatory policies aimed at achieving similar objectives. He asserted that timing is an important determinant of success of a regulatory decision.

Atiur Rahman, Governor of the Bangladesh Bank stressed on the need to comply with regulatory requirements as lapses in compliance during good times was one of the main reasons for financial crisis.

Delivering the keynote address, Dr. C. Rangarajan, Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council of the Prime Minister of India observed that well-functioning markets and regulatory failures co-exist in a real world. He said that it was critical for governments involved in designing regulatory institutions to be aware of three main objectives of economic regulation which are to promote investment, protect consumers and catalyse efficiency in the production process.

Pradeep Mehta, Secretary General of CUTS International welcomed the delegates and said that the aim of this conference is to stimulate research and thinking among governments and other segments of the policy community on the future agenda of regulatory reforms.

For more information, please contact:
Navneet Sharma, Director, CIRC, +91 92127 23123, ns@circ.in
Udai S Mehta, Assistant Director, CUTS, +91 98292 85926, usm@cuts.org