Parity Clauses And The E-commerce Market In India- A Competition Law Perspective

According to an industry report by India Brand Equity Foundation, India is the fastest-growing e-commerce market in the world. The digital economy in India is estimated to be worth a trillion US dollars by the year 2025.

The rapid growth of the e-commerce market has invited increasing scrutiny by competition law regulators, including the Competition Commission of India (“CCI”). In April 2019, the CCI launched a market study into the e-commerce market in India (“Market Study”). The interim findings on the market study were published by the CCI in August 2019.

One of the key competition concerns identified by the CCI in the market study was the imposition of parity clauses by e-commerce platforms on sellers using their platforms. The market study specifically identified the online travel agency market (“OTA”), and the online food ordering and delivery market (“Food Delivery”) as examples of markets where such parity clauses were prevalent. Following on the heels of