Order writing and statutory discretion in the CCI's Section 26(2) determinations

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) exercises significant discretion in its preliminary screening function under Section 26(2) of the Competition Act, 2002. These orders close proceedings at the threshold stage without directing investigation, are appealable, and determine the rights of the informant. This paper assesses the completeness of the CCI's order-writing in S. 26(2) matters and the adequacy of the statutory framework governing this discretionary power. We evaluate a random sample of 111 S. 26(2) orders issued between 2014 and 2024 using customised Good Order Writing indicators and examine appellate outcomes. This was supplemented with semi-structured interviews with practitioners and CCI officials. We find that orders are generally complete, with an average score of 59.51%, and perform well in appeal. However, we find that the statutory factors under Ss. 19(3) and 19(4) are applied inconsistently. We recommend incremental improvements in order-writing alongside the development of a dedicated framework for thresholdstage determinations under S. 26(2).