CUTS International publishes "An Evidence Based Analysis of Relevant Market: The Case of Ridesharing in Delhi National Capital Region (India)"
CUTS international has published:
The study was authored by Amol Kulkarni, Parveer Singh Ghuman, Swasti Gupta and Ujjwal Kumar (CUTS International)
Introduction
“Globally, digitalization is expanding at an unprecedented pace. Rapid internet revolution has made multi-sided platforms (MSPs) ubiquitous in our modern economy. In India, ride sharing within urban transportation is one sector that has been significantly upended with the entry of MSPs. Owing to their distinct features, these Online App-based Platforms (OAPs) exhibit significant competitive pressure on traditional players. Concurrently, enforcement of competition law with respect to MSPs generally and OAPs specifically is at an incipient stage. Particularly, delineation of market definition of MSPs forms the hotbed of competition law discourse.
Ascertaining the relevant market encompasses relevant product and geographic market. As per the Indian Competition Act, 2002, a significant factor for accurate delineation of relevant market requires an intricate assessment of several factors, including ‘Consumer Preferences’. However, the extent to which consumer preferences are currently evaluated and relied on appears to be limited and lacks on-ground research.
To fill this void, we undertook an evidence-based analysis to ascertain the relevant market of OAPs in the context of the ride sharing industry in Delhi National Capital Region from the perspective of consumers (both riders and drivers on OAPs).”