Under Section 3 of the Competition Act, 2002, an agreement between enterprises engaged in identical or similar trade of goods which directly or indirectly determines purchase or sale prices is:

Section 3 of the Competition Act, 2002, prohibits agreements that cause or are likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India. Sub-section (3) declares that agreements between enterprises engaged in identical or similar trade of goods or services which directly or indirectly determine purchase or sale prices, limit production or supply, or share the market, including bid rigging, are presumed to have an appreciable adverse effect on competition and are void; a cartel is the clearest case. The presumption is rebuttable but is a presumption of appreciable adverse effect, unlike vertical agreements under sub-section (4), which are judged by the rule of reason. Registration with the Commission does not validate such agreements, and voidness follows from sub-section (1).