Competition Policy and Consumer Welfare in a Liberalised Economy

F. Rahman, Musheer Ahmed
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Abstract

The discourse on competition policy often uses the term 'consumer welfare' but rarely is clear about its meaning or role. Promotion of consumer welfare is the common goal of consumer protection and competition policy. As India's economies move progressively towards increased liberalisation, certain undesirable business practices can emerge which act as a hindrance to development and economic growth. The absence of a competition and consumer protection policy in India has created opportunities for some sectors of the business community to engage in unfair business practices viz., price fixing, speculative hoarding and collusive tendering. Competition policy and consumer policy reinforce one another. In markets that are effectively competitive, producers have internal incentives to further consumer policy objectives, for example, to develop a relationship for quality or to attract customers away from rivals by providing the necessary information to minimise switching costs. At the same time, when consumers are able to exercise their choices effectively, they can act as a competitive discipline upon producers. Thus, there is a strong case to be made for the co-ordination of these two policy areas. In the light of India's commitment to a liberalised economy, there is a need for a fair and equitable environment where producer and consumer can maximise their profit and satisfaction respectively. There is therefore a need for India's Competition and Consumer Protection policy if market oriented policies are to be given the best possible chance of success. In the backdrop of this, it is therefore imperative for India to develop this Policy ensuring the supporting legislation, infrastructure and regulations. In this context, the present paper analysis the standard of consumer welfare required to be taken into consideration while dealing with competition issues, and to what extent is protection accorded to consumers under other legislations.
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自由经济中的竞争政策与消费者福利
关于竞争政策的论述经常使用“消费者福利”一词,但很少明确其含义或作用。促进消费者福利是消费者保护和竞争政策的共同目标。随着印度经济逐步走向自由化,某些不受欢迎的商业行为可能会出现,成为发展和经济增长的障碍。印度缺乏竞争和消费者保护政策,这为企业界的某些部门从事不公平的商业行为创造了机会,即操纵价格、投机性囤积和串通投标。竞争政策和消费者政策相辅相成。在有效竞争的市场中,生产者有进一步实现消费者政策目标的内在动机,例如,发展质量关系,或通过提供必要的信息以尽量减少转换成本,从竞争对手那里吸引顾客。与此同时,当消费者能够有效地行使他们的选择时,他们可以对生产者起到一种竞争性的约束作用。因此,有充分理由协调这两个政策领域。鉴于印度对自由化经济的承诺,有必要创造一个公平和公平的环境,使生产者和消费者能够分别实现利润和满意度的最大化。因此,如果要使面向市场的政策获得最大的成功机会,就需要印度的竞争和消费者保护政策。在此背景下,印度必须制定这一政策,确保配套的立法、基础设施和法规。在此背景下,本文分析了在处理竞争问题时需要考虑的消费者福利标准,以及其他立法对消费者的保护程度。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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