Orders by Commission after inquiry into agreements or abuse of dominant position
Section 27 of the Competition Act, 2002 deals with orders by Commission after inquiry into agreements or abuse of dominant position. Where after inquiry the Commission finds that any agreement referred to in section 3 or action of an enterprise in a dominant position, is in contravention of section 3 or section 4, as the case may be, it may pass all or any of the following orders, namely:-- (a) direct any enterprise or associatio The Act came into force on 31 Mar 2003.
Where after inquiry the Commission finds that any agreement referred to in section 3 or action of an enterprise in a dominant position, is in contravention of section 3 or section 4, as the case may be, it may pass all or any of the following orders, namely:--
(a) direct any enterprise or association of enterprises or person or association of persons, as the case may be, involved in such agreement, or abuse of dominant position, to discontinue and not to re-enter such agreement or discontinue such abuse of dominant position, as the case may be;
2[(b) impose such penalty, as it may deem fit which shall be not more than ten per cent. of the average of the turnover or income, as the case may be, for the last three preceding financial years, upon each of such person or enterprise which is a party to such agreement or has abused its dominant position:
Provided that in case any agreement referred to in section 3 has been entered into by a cartel, the Commission may impose upon each producer, seller, distributor, trader or service provider included in that cartel, a penalty of up to three times of its profit for each year of the continuance of such agreement or ten per cent. of its turnover or income, as the case may be, for each year of the continuance of such agreement, whichever is higher.
Explanation 1.--For the purposes of this clause, the expression "turnover" or "income", as the case may be, shall be determined in such manner as may be specified by regulations.
Explanation 2.--For the purposes of this clause, "turnover" means global turnover derived from all the products and services by a person or an enterprise.]
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(d) direct that the agreements shall stand modified to the extent and in the manner as may be specified in the order by the Commission;
(e) direct the enterprises concerned to abide by such other orders as the Commission may pass and comply with the directions, including payment of costs, if any;
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(g) pass such other 5[order or issue such directions] as it may deem fit:
6[Provided that while passing orders under this section, if the Commission comes to a finding, that an enterprise in contravention to section 3 or section 4 of the Act is a member of a group as defined in clause (b) of the Explanation to section 5 of the Act, and other members of such a group are also responsible for, or have contributed to, such a contravention, then it may pass orders, under this section, against such members of the group.]
Section 27, The Competition Act, 2002 (Act 12 of 2003).
Cross-references
Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.
This section refers to
Related judgements & precedents
These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.
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Rajasthan Cylinders and Containers Ltd. v. Union of India
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Appeals under Competition Act s.53T against COMPAT. Price parallelism in an oligopsony (IOCL LPG-cylinder tenders) is not by itself conclusive of a s.3(3) anti-competitive agreement or bid-rigging; CCI/COMPAT findings and s.27 penalties were set aside for want of sufficient evidence of an agreement. Excel Crop Care on the same CNR-era docket remains ROP-only and is not used. Use Judgement order-122.pdf (2018-10-01), not order-121 ROP.
On this section: CCI s.27 penalty orders fall when the underlying s.3 finding is set aside for want of an agreement.
The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.
Judgments citing this section
These may be obiter dicta or a precedent, for you to study. These are the judgments where this section is quoted.
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… The Competition Act is also a special statute which deals with anti-competition. It is also to be borne in mind that if the activity undertaken by some persons is anti-competitive and offends Section 3 of the Competition Act, the consequences thereof are provided in the Competition Act. Section 27 empowers the CCI to pass certain kinds of orders, stipulated in the said provision, after inquiry into the agreements for abuse of dominant position. The following kinds of orders can be passed by the CCI under this provision: "27. Orders by Commission after inquiry into agreements or abuse of dominant …
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… The Competition Act is also a special statute which deals with anti-competition. It is also to be borne in mind that if the activity undertaken by some persons is anti-competitive and offends Section 3 of the Competition Act, the consequences thereof are provided in the Competition Act. Section 27 empowers the CCI to pass certain kinds of orders, stipulated in the said provision, after inquiry into the agreements for abuse of dominant position. The following kinds of orders can be passed by the CCI under this provision: "27. Orders by Commission after inquiry into agreements or abuse of dominant …
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… The Competition Act is also a special statute which deals with anti-competition. It is also to be borne in mind that if the activity undertaken by some persons is anti-competitive and offends Section 3 of the Competition Act, the consequences thereof are provided in the Competition Act. Section 27 empowers the CCI to pass certain kinds of orders, stipulated in the said provision, after inquiry into the agreements for abuse of dominant position. The following kinds of orders can be passed by the CCI under this provision: "27. Orders by Commission after inquiry into agreements or abuse of dominant …
Made under this section, and citing it
2 instruments state that it was made under this provision — the power to make it comes from here, so a change to any of them changes what this section requires in practice. Newest first.
Questions about Section 27
What have the courts held on Section 27 of the Competition Act?
Rajasthan Cylinders and Containers Ltd. v. Union of India (01 Oct 2018) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: CCI s.27 penalty orders fall when the underlying s.3 finding is set aside for want of an agreement.
How do I find court cases under Section 27 of the Competition Act?
In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: Competition Act 27, section 27 Competition Act, section 27 of the Competition Act. People searching for it also type 27 competition act. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 1 reported judgment on this section is set out on this page, beginning with Rajasthan Cylinders and Containers Ltd. v. Union of India (01 Oct 2018).
What should I read with Section 27 of the Competition Act, and has it changed?
Its own text turns on section 3 (Anti-competitive agreements), section 4 (Abuse of dominant position), so none of them can safely be read on its own. 6 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it. The rules and notifications made under it are where it actually bites, and there are 2: most recently The Competition Commission of India (Lesser Penalty) Amendment Regulations, 2017 (2017), then CCI (Lesser Penalty) Regulations, 2009 (No. 4 of 2009) (2009).
When did Section 27 of the Competition Act come into force?
Section 27 of the Competition Act, cited as Competition Act 27, came into force on 31 Mar 2003, having been enacted on 13 Jan 2003. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.
Other sections of this Act
- 66. Repeal and saving1683 words
- 2. Definitions1390 words
- 5. Combination1317 words
- 6. Regulation of combinations920 words
- 3. Anti-competitive agreements850 words
- 26. Procedure for inquiry under section 19788 words
Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Text as in force on 14 Oct 2026. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.