Two competing manufacturers agree to DIVIDE the national market between themselves - one serving the north, the other the south - with a view to avoiding competition. Under the Competition Act, 2002, this agreement is:

An agreement among enterprises producing or providing similar goods/services to DIVIDE MARKETS by allocation of territory, customers or production is expressly an ANTI-COMPETITIVE agreement under Section 3(3)(a)-(b) of the Competition Act, 2002, and is presumed to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition. Market division substitutes arrangement for competition and harms consumers through reduced choice and higher prices. Section 3 prohibits such horizontal agreements irrespective of any enterprise's dominance. It is, like price-fixing and bid-rigging, a cartel-type practice presumed unlawful under the Act.