India’s justice system is groaning under a crushing backlog. Nearly 48 million cases are pending in lower courts, while the Supreme Court alone has close to 90,000 unresolved matters.
Recently Telecom Regulatory Authority of India announced that it had disconnected over 21 lakh fraudulent mobile numbers and blacklisted nearly one lakh entities involved in spam and scam messaging. The action was driven largely by citizen reports through the Do Not Disturb app.
Well-contested markets deliver efficiency, innovation, consumer gains and faster GDP growth. While India envisions developed economy status by 2047, a key enabler is missing. For a big-bang reform, the government should dust off its 2011 draft competition policy and relieve markets of distortions.
The more serious question, however, is how the regulator allowed this situation to escalate. The transition was foreseeable, the risks were evident, yet enforcement remained weak until disruptions became alarming.
In 1991, India embarked on major economic policy reforms in the face of a financial crisis. Today, tariff bombs lobbed by the US administration under Donald Trump have led to a chorus demanding reforms so that Indian businesses can cope with trade adversity. Prime Minister
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