The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has as of now not found any contravention by e-commerce companies to have indulged in predatory pricing, Parliament was informed on Friday.

The CCI has received certain complaints alleging predatory pricing against e-commerce companies, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash said in a written reply to a query in the Rajya Sabha.

He added that the imposition of unfair or discriminatory prices (including predatory pricing) by a dominant enterprise or group is prohibited under provisions of the Competition Act, 2002.

"As of now, the CCI has not found any contravention by any e-commerce company to have indulged in predatory pricing," he said.

FDI inflows

In a separate reply, the minister said measures taken by the government, including on FDI policy reforms, have resulted in increased foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in the country year after year.

"In the last seven financial years (2014-21), India has received FDI inflow worth $440.27 billion, which is nearly 58 per cent of the FDI reported in the last 21 years ($763.83 billion).

"This indicates increasing inclination of global companies to set up their business in India," Parkash said.

Intellectual property rights

Replying to a question on intellectual property rights, he said that as of January 31 this fiscal, 51,940 patent applications have been filed as against 58,503 in 2020-21 and 56,267 in 2019-20.

The number of patents filed by Indians in India over the last five years is also showing a steady increase, he said.

As of January 31 this year, 21,104 patent applications were filed by Indians in the country as against 24,284 in 2020-21 and 20,824 in 2019-20.

During the past five years, there has been a steady switchover from manual to a computerised system of processing of applications, upgradation of infrastructure, augmentation of technical manpower, computerisation, re-engineering of the process workflow, database up-gradation and IT enablement of patent offices.

The ministry, he said, regularly reviews the manpower strength of patent offices with the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (CGPDTM) office.

"In this regard, recruitment for 200 posts of examiners of patents and designs concluded in the year 2020," he added.

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