Mrtp Bill Case

The MRTP Act, 1969

Post independence, many new and big firms have entered the Indian market. They had little competition and they were trying to monopolize the market. The Government of India understood the intentions of such firms. In order to safeguard the rights of consumers, Government of India passed the MRTP bill. The bill was passed and the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade PracticesAct, 1969, came into existence. Through this law, the MRTP commission has the power to stop all businesses that create barrier for the scope of competition in Indian economy.

The MRTP Act, 1969, aims at preventing economic power concentration in order to avoid damage. The act also provides for probation of monopolistic, unfair and restrictive trade practices. The law controls the monopolies and protects consumer interest.

Monopolistic Trade Practice

Such practice indicates misuse of one's power to abuse the market in terms of production and sales of goods and services. Firms involved in monopolistic trade practice tries to eliminate competition from the market. Then they take advantage of their monopoly and charge unreasonably high prices. They also deteriorate the product quality, limit technical development, prevent competition and adopt unfair trade practices.

Unfair Trade Practice

The following may result in an unfair trade practice:

False representation and misleading advertisement of goods and services.

Falsely representing second-hand goods as new.

Misleading representation regarding usefulness, need, quality, standard, style etc of goods and services.

False claims or representation regarding price of goods and services.

Giving false facts regarding sponsorship, affiliation etc. of goods and services.

Giving false guarantee or warranty on goods and services without adequate tests.

Restrictive Trade Practice

The traders, in order to maximize their profits and to gain power in the market, often indulge in activities that tend to block the flow of capital into production. Such traders also bring in conditions of delivery to affect the flow of supplies leading to unjustified costs.

About the MRTP Act, 1969

The MRTP Act extends to the whole of India except the state of Jammu and Kashmir. This law was enacted:

To ensure that the operation of the economic system does not result in the concentration of economic power in hands of few,

To provide for the control of monopolies, and

To