Explain the concept of Cartel with reference to the Competition Act, 2002.

According to Section 2(c) of the Competition Act, 2002, Cartel includes an association of producers, sellers or distributors, traders or service providers who, by agreement amongst themselves, limit control or attempt to control the production, distribution, sale or price of or, trade in goods or provision of services. The nature of a cartel is to raise price above competitive levels, resulting in injury to consumers and to the economy. For the consumers, cartelisation results in higher prices, poor quality and less or no choice for goods or/and services. An international cartel is said to exist, when not all of the enterprises in a cartel are based in the same country or when the cartel affects markets of more than one country. An import cartel comprises enterprises (including an association of enterprises) that get together for the purpose of imports into the country. An export cartel is made up of enterprises based in one country with an agreement to cartelize markets in other countries. In the Competition Act, cartels meant exclusively for exports have been excluded from the provisions relating to anti-competitive agreements. This is because such cartels do not adversely affect markets in India and are hence outside the purview of the Competition Act. If there is effective competition in the market, cartels would find it difficult to be formed and sustained.