Buyer's Cartels: A Concern For Competition Law

INTRODUCTION

There is a wide connotation to the word "cartel." The interpretation adopted by a majority of jurists and legislatures suggests that the word must be understood in the true spirit of competition law, which is to promote healthy competition in a free and fair market. However, reality begs to differ, with the word having acquired a negative connotation over the years, and has now come to mean unfair and unethical collusion in a market.

A buyers' cartel is a group of purchasers who mutually agree to remove the competition from the relevant market by fixing prices or to otherwise influence the behavior of a supplier. Such agreements could occur amongst buyers either at the end-consumer stage or at any other level of production. Although cartelization among sellers has been called a per se violation under the Competition Act, 2002, (2002 Act), cartelization among buyers, however, presents itself to legislators as fairly complex.