With the enactment of the Competition Act and the flurry of cases the regulator is handling, a Delhi-based research institution has launched two courses in the areas of competition policy and law.

The courses - a foundation level and an advanced diploma - will solve practical problems concerning the control of anti-competitive practices and will improve their overall perspective on competition regulations in relation to business, according to the Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS) Institute for Regulation and Competition (CIRC).

Competition law fosters competition through checking anti-competitive actions and requires every market player to remain compliant. Violations can attract substantial financial penalties and may erode valuable brand equity of companies.

'There is enough literature on the provisions relating to competition laws in India, yet a systematic approach was required to assimilate the various related aspects into comprehendible module to facilitate learning,' said chairman of the Competition Commission of India, Dhanendra Kumar while launching the course.

'Most of the violations by companies happen because of ignorance of the law,' Kumar added. The courses will be available online with experts from institutions of global repute such as the American Antitrust Institute, the Competition and Regulation European Summer School and Conference, and eminent Indian lawyers tutoring the course takers.

CUTS Institute for Regulation and Competition (CIRC) today announced launching two courses on competition law and policy.The two courses -- certificate (six months) and diploma (for one year) -- are aimed at decoding the new competition law as well spreading awareness about the anti-trust policy.

"The programmes will enable the professionals to solve practical problems concerning the control of anti-competitive practices and will improve their overall perspective on competition regulations in relation to business," Dhanendra Kumar, Chairman of Competition Commission of India said while unveiling the courses.

CIRC Chairman Pradeep S Mehta said that a large number of infringements relating to competition law compliance were committed through ignorance and therefore a central plank of policy should lie in "encouraging firms to comply with the law".

Mehta added that CIRC has partnered institutions of global repute to deliver world class courses in India.CIRC has signed MOUs with the Competition and Regulation European Summer School and Conference at the Athens University of Economics and Business, and American Antitrust Institute for content and resource persons.