COVER LETTER Name: Ayushi Dwivedi Designation: Student Affiliation: Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur Title of the Abstract: Analysis of the Relation between Competition Law and Consumer Welfare Theme: Competition Law and Consumer Welfare Email Id: ayushidwivedi.hnlu@gmail.com Contact No: 07869181678

ANALYSIS OF THE RELATION BETWEEN COMPETITON LAW AND CONSUMER WELFARELaw without welfare works in a lacuna. Competition law tries to avoid any lacunae or loopholes by ensuring that Consumer Welfare remains one of its primary objectives. Competition policies often take the interest of consumers into account. For instance, in jurisdictions like the EU and the US, competition law includes promotion and protection of consumer interest and welfare among its goals. Due to this direct reference, consumer welfare and interest are considered by relevant courts or competition authorities in their decisions. Competition law generally has as its aim to increase the overall material welfare of society through maintaining rivalry among firms. The ultimate goal is to increase overall economic efficiency while providing consumers with a fair share of this total wealth. While societys total welfare is usually the ultimate goal of competition policy it is rarely its exclusive goal. Competition policy usually focuses on a specific reconciliation of the overall interest of society with the particular interests of consumers. The difference between competition policies lies in the particular way in which they reconcile these interests. However, although consumer interest is one important element of competition law, not all aspects of consumer interest, such as safety, health, environment and privacy, can be addressed by competition law enforcement. These additional aspects of consumer interest require specialized laws, which also protect consumers against unfair business practices. In competition law the primary role of the consumer welfare standard is to verify the goals of competition policy and to delineate the general legal framework of competition law enforcement by establishing the basis for the standard of proof. This research paper tries to highlight the interface between Competition law and Consumer Welfare Standard and explains different interpretations of the consumer welfare standard in competition law with the application of the consumer welfare standard in competition law enforcement.Keywords: Consumer Welfare Standard, Competition Policy, Consumer Interest.