Consortium of MSME: Cartel or Not?

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to analyse government policies and legal position in regard to the status of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) from the perspective of the Competition Act, 2002, especially with respect to their cartel behaviour. Presently, there is no specific legal provision exempting MSMEs from the ambit of the Competition Act, 2002. Yet, there are certain government policies which promote cooperation among MSMEs. In other countries, where there is more or less an exemption to small enterprises under the garb of de–minimis. Government policies promoting cooperation among MSMEs needs attention, preferably through revisiting the legal provisions under the Competition Act, 2002. Therefore, this paper, while touching upon the challenges faced by CCI in this regard, concludes that the contradictions in the policies of different arms of the government are to be sorted out. It further makes suggestions to address the same in light of the practices in other countries.