A DOMINANT vertically-integrated producer of an essential input refuses to supply that input to a downstream competitor, thereby denying it Access to the market. Under the Competition Act, 2002, this conduct:

Section 4(2)(c) of the Competition Act, 2002 expressly treats as an abuse of dominant position the 'denial of market access in any manner' by a dominant enterprise. A dominant firm that refuses to deal with, or withholds an essential input from, a downstream rival so as to foreclose competition engages in exclusionary conduct prohibited by Section 4. Such a refusal distorts competition in the downstream market. The analysis turns on the enterprise's dominance in the relevant market and the anti-competitive foreclosure effect. Denial of market access is a recognised hallmark of abuse-of-dominance under Indian competition law.