How to File a Complaint With the Competition Commission of India (2026)

How-to · Competition Law · Process

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

If you want the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to act against a cartel or an abuse of market power, you file "information", which is the Act’s word for a complaint. Anyone can file information under Section 19(1)(a) of the Competition Act, 2002. The CCI examines it, forms a prima facie view, and if a case is made out, directs the Director General to investigate. This guide sets out who can file, where, the fee, the steps, and the appeal. Last verified October 2026.

01When to go to the CCI

You go to the CCI when a business has broken competition law and you want it stopped and penalised. The two main wrongs are anti-competitive agreements and abuse of a dominant position. A rigged tender, a cartel that fixes prices, a dominant platform that denies access, or an unfair tie-in are typical triggers.

The CCI is a public enforcer, not a forum to recover your own money. It acts in the public interest to protect competition. If you also want damages, that is a separate claim before the NCLAT after a finding of contravention. The first step is to put the facts before the Commission.

02Who can file and what to file

Who can file: any person, consumer, consumer association, trade association, or enterprise can file information under Section 19(1)(a). The CCI can also act on a reference from the Central or a State Government or a statutory authority, or on its own motion (suo motu).

What to file: the information must set out the facts, the parties, the relevant market, the conduct complained of, and how it breaches Section 3 or Section 4. It is filed in the form set out in the CCI (General) Regulations, with supporting documents and the fee.

For the substantive wrongs, see anti-competitive agreements under Section 3 and abuse of dominant position under Section 4.

03The filing fee

The fee for filing information under Section 19 depends on who is filing, under the CCI (General) Regulations as amended in 2024.

These figures reflect the 2024 revision of the General Regulations. There are separate, smaller fees for interlocutory applications filed within a case.

04What happens after you file

The inquiry runs under Section 26.

1. Prima facie view: the CCI examines the information. If it finds a prima facie case, it directs the Director General (DG) to investigate. If not, it closes the matter under Section 26(2).
2. DG investigation: the DG investigates and submits a report with findings on whether there is a contravention.
3. Consideration of the report: the parties and the informant get a chance to respond. The CCI then hears the matter.
4. Final order: the CCI passes a final order, either finding a contravention and ordering remedies, or closing the case.

There is no fixed outer limit within which the CCI must finish, but the steps are structured and the DG works to timelines the Commission sets.

05Remedies the CCI can order

If the CCI finds a contravention, Section 27 lets it:

• order the enterprise to stop (cease and desist from) the conduct;
• impose a penalty of up to ten per cent of turnover, and for cartels up to three times the profit or ten per cent of turnover for each year, whichever is higher;
• direct modification of the agreement; and
• pass any other order or direction it thinks fit.

The 2023 amendment also introduced settlement and commitment mechanisms, which let parties resolve certain cases without a full contested order.

06The appeal

A final order of the CCI can be appealed to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) under Section 53B. The appeal must be filed within 60 days of the order, and the NCLAT can condone delay for sufficient cause.

There is no mandatory pre-deposit to file the appeal itself. The Supreme Court has held that a statutory appeal cannot be defeated by requiring a deposit as a condition of entertaining it, though a deposit can be attached to a stay of the penalty. A further appeal from the NCLAT lies to the Supreme Court under Section 53T, within 60 days.

There is no mandatory pre-deposit to file a competition appeal. A deposit can condition a stay of the penalty, but it cannot block the appeal itself.

07Where Claw fits

Claw is an all-in-one legaltech platform for Indian advocates, law firms, and corporate legal teams, combining AI-based case search, an AI legal assistant (Legal GPT), case management, and compliance automation across all Indian courts and tribunals.

A competition matter can spend years moving through the CCI, the Director General, the NCLAT and the Supreme Court, and the best guide to a fresh filing is how those forums have handled similar conduct before. Claw lets you mine 30 crore+ judgments for prior orders in under 5 seconds, and follow a live CCI matter on appeal by tracking its cases, orders and hearings by party or advocate name across 9,102 courts, benches and forums. The record stretches from 1950 for the Supreme Court and from 1990 for the High Courts.

Claw does not use customer documents to train its AI models. Start a free Claw account to research competition orders and keep watch on your own CCI matter by party or advocate name. To search the wider body of law, see case search across Indian courts.

08Sources and further reading

• Competition Commission of India (filing and fees): cci.gov.in/filing
• India Code (Competition Act, 2002): indiacode.nic.in
• Claw: clawlaw.in

This guide is general information, not legal advice. The CCI regulations and fees are amended from time to time, so check the current regulations and take advice from counsel before you act.

09Frequently asked questions