Guarding The Brief: How To Shield Privileged Advice In CCI Probes

India’s proposed Digital Competition Law has evolved through several stages, from the 2022 Parliamentary Committee report and the 2024 Committee on Digital Competition Law’s draft Bill, through a 2025 government reconsideration, to renewed Parliamentary backing for an ex-ante framework in August 2026. Drawing on comparative experience from the EU, UK, and Japan, this article argues that legislative reform must be matched by a strengthened Competition Commission of India if ex-ante regulation is to work in practice.

On 20 May 2025, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) issued revised Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), providing essential clarifications to the updated merger control framework...

On 13 July 2026, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed penalties exceeding ₹142 crore on HP India and several reselers under Section 27 of the Competition Act, 2002 (Competition Act) for cartelisation and bid rigging in the sale and supply of HP personal system products, including laptops, desktops, workstations and accessories (Computers Case), and ink and toner cartridges (Cartridges Case). The orders arose from lesser penalty applications filed by HP India under Section 46 of the Competition Act read with the CCI (Lesser Penalty) Regulations, 2009.

The Competition Commission of India ("CCI") had on October 20, 2022, passed an order against Google LLC and Google India Private Limited ("Google") directing Google...

Anti-competitive agreements are collaborations among market forces that negatively impact market competition. These agreements weaken fair competition in the market by implementing various restrictive...

Competition law shapes nearly every significant merger and acquisition. Regulators in the United States, European Union, United Kingdom and other jurisdictions review deals that could substantially lessen competition, raise prices, reduce innovation or harm workers and consumers. In 2025 and 2026 the enforcement landscape has shifted.

This article outlines the differences between the Indian regulatory environment in the AI driven markets as opposed to digital markets in two separate sections.

Indian competition law continued to mature in 2025, with courts playing a pivotal role in defining enforcement boundaries and providing doctrinal clarity.

India has two regulatory layers- sector regulators since the 1990s and the CCI, which alone handles competition matters since 2002, and this has created real gaps and clashes, as seen in telecom, electricity, aviation, and conflicting court rulings. The article argues this isn’t a genuine conflict but a design flaw as the CCI is best placed to judge competition consistently, while sectoral regulators bring technical expertise the CCI lacks. This gap was flagged back in 2011 in a policy draft that was never implemented. The article proposes practical fixes, mandatory coordination, sunset clauses for outdated rules, and a revived regulator forum.

The Competition (Amendment) Act, 2023 introduced significant changes that strengthened the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to deal with contemporary issues concerning competition in the Indian markets.

On September 9, 2026, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution (Department of Consumer Affairs) notified the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) (Amendment) Rules, 2026 (“Amendment Rules”), amending the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 (“E-Commerce Rules”). The Amendment Rules will come into force on January 1, 2027.

The Ministry of Labour & Employment has issued a notification dated September 17, 2026, notifying INR 25,000 per month as the new wage ceiling for the purposes of the provident fund provisions (“PF“) of the Code on Social Security, 2020 (“SS Code”). The notification is effective from September 17, 2026. The wage ceiling was last revised 12 years ago in September 2014, when it was increased from INR 6,500 per month to INR 15,000 per month.

The Reserve Bank of India has introduced a new classification system for Non-Banking Financial Companies, fundamentally changing registration requirements based on public funding access, customer interface, and asset size thresholds. These regulatory changes create distinct compliance pathways for different NBFC categories while introducing new rules for group entities and overseas investments.

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 ("BNS") was enacted on December 25, 2023, repealing and replacing the Indian Penal Code, 1860 ("IPC") as the new penal code of the country.

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The Reserve Bank of India has introduced comprehensive new regulations consolidating the entire export-import framework, set to take effect from October 2026.

India has introduced three new social security schemes under the Code on Social Security, 2020, effective July 1, 2026, fundamentally restructuring the country's provident fund, pension, and insurance frameworks. These schemes replace decades-old regulations and introduce special provisions including enrollment campaigns, damage relief programs, and retrospective exemptions for establishments. The new framework maintains contribution structures while introducing significant operational changes and transitio

The RBI has issued the Reserve Bank of India (Lending Against Gold and Silver Collateral) Directions, 2025 (‘Directions') dated June 6, 2025, with directions to ensure compliance before April 1, 2026.

The Delhi High Court has ruled that arbitral awards must be stamped when signed, not when enforcement is sought, closing a decades-old practice of deferred stamp duty payment. Once the one-month statutory window expires, award holders cannot cure the deficiency through unilateral deposit and must pay both deficit duty and penalty at a fixed rate, fundamentally reshaping enforcement practice for arbitration practitioners across India.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (‘SEBI’) has notified the SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) (Amendment) Regulations, 2026 by way of Notification No. SEBI/LAD-NRO/GN/2026/299...