"Competition Commission of India takes into consideration various factors while assessing the adverse effect on competition." Analyse briefly.

Section 20 (4) of the Competition Act, 2002 illustrates the factors that may be taken into view to test the appreciable adverse effect of competition (AAEC) by the Competition Commission of India. The factors are actual and potential level of competition through imports in the market, barriers to entry in the market, market share, and likelihood of removing effective competition, innovation, whether benefits outweigh the adverse effects on competition. The above yardsticks are to be taken into account irrespective of the fact whether an inquiry is instituted, on receipt of notice under section 6 of the Act or upon its own knowledge. The scope of assessment of adverse effect is confined to relevant market which is a mix of geographical and product involved as per the terms of Combination. Most of the facts enumerated in section 20(4) are external to an enterprise. It is noteworthy that Section 20(4) requires to invoke principles of a "balancing". It requires the Commission to evaluate whether the benefits of the combination outweigh the adverse impact of the combination, if any. In other words if the benefits of the combination outweigh the adverse effect of the combination, the Commission will approve the combination. Conversely, the Commission may declare such a combination as void. Being a quasi-judicial body, the Commission provides an opportunity of being heard to the affected parties before arriving at a decision to approve or reject a proposal through application or otherwise.