A Curious Case of Radio-Taxi Market under Indian Competition Law

An Analysis

Abstract

The radio taxi market is a market where customers through the Internet can book a taxi to the desired destination at a reasonable price charged by an aggregator or middleman who is not the actual owner of the vehicle. By using the internet platform, the aggregators hire a number of taxi owners and drivers and then they provide these taxi services to the consumers. Before new arrangement, the yellow taxi in the market had been transporting passengers across India for many years. Unfortunately, after getting tired of the behavior of yellow taxi drivers and abusing the recharge process through mechanical or electronic meters, a large number of customers have turned to the electricity consumption market, led by Ola and Uber. However, the Competition Commission, which hears competition law cases, dealt with reports alleging an anti-competitive agreement and abuse of dominance when Meru Cabs, one of the radio taxi service, filed a lawsuit against Uber. The Commission held that Uber did not engage in unfair conduct, but the Court of Appeals for Competition, the appellate body, overruled the opinion of the Commission. The Supreme Court of India upheld the order of the ‘Court of Competition Appeal’. An attempt is made in this paper to examine the legal issues raised and judicial principles pronounced in these conflicting opinions of different courts so as to appraise their loopholes.