The Sri Lankan Consumer Affairs Authority continues to face
accusations that it is not proactive enough in enforcing
substantive competition prohibitions, but instead focusing on the
utilization of its consumer protection powers by undertaking a
number of pricing investigations and other consumer protection
actions. It is also notable that, apart from a handful of sector
specific regulatory controls on anticompetitive mergers and
acquisitions, there is still no sector neutral prohibition against
anticompetitive mergers in Sri Lanka.
At this stage businesses looking to enter or expand in one of Sri
Lanka's many industries dominated by strong incumbents are not
able to gain a great deal of comfort from the Authority's
presence in terms of ensuring a level playing field. Equally, while
strong enforcement is not a significant risk at this stage,
relevant prohibitions are on the statute book and the Authority is
functioning and has demonstrated an ability to prosecute cases in
the consumer protection sphere. In this environment, active
competition compliance programs are important for those looking to
escape the risk of being one of the Authority's first
substantial scalps when it does find its feet in the competition
arena.
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