Similarities Between The MRTP Act And The Competition Act

The MRTP Act was a precursor to the Competition Act and sought to legislate over issues relating to restrictive and monopolistic trade practices. There are areas of similarities between the MRTP Act and the Competition Act. The primary distinction between the enactments stems from the legislative objec¬tive. While the thrust of the Competition Actis to promote competition, the objective of the MRTP Act was to prevent economic concentration and restrictive trade practices.
Even in respect of merger control provisions currently found in the Competition Act, the MRTP Act used concentration of economic power as the basis of merger control. Chapter III of the MRTP Act sought to regulate activities of undertakings whose asset value crossed certain