Competition is part and parcel of our everyday life. So as students, we compete in school & college for better grades & for sports medals. In professional life we also compete with other job applicants to secure a job or we compete with our colleagues to get better appraisal.
On the other hand, we often use competition for our own benefit when we are in the market and we try to get a little more of Dhaniya from 2 different sellers seating side by side or when we spend hours browsing on Amazon & Flipkart to see where we get the best discount and fastest delivery for the mobile phone or the dress we want to buy.
And yet, even after having so much exposure to competition, sometimes, we may get affected by myopia as we struggle to apply the same principals for our own benefit.
Competition and lack of thereof can significantly affect all of us not just economically but also in-terms of our overall well-being. Let us look at some of the examples.
Circa 2009, India saw mobile network operators waging war against each other to acquire customers and corner market share for themselves. We saw players like Tata Docomo, Airtel, Idea, Reliance Communication (ADAG group), Vodafone & Uninor coming out with innovative offerings like cheaper on-network calls, friends & family plans, free sim-cards, roaming benefits and what not. The effect was that voice calling became dirt cheap. Even when Jio was launched, in early days as customers we got significant benefits like free voice calls, cheaper data packs and a lot more. However, over the years, as the competition in the market was killed with only four players left in the market with two of them on their death beds (BSNL & VI), we now effectively have a duopoly which has increased cost of monthly packs. The spend has gone up from Rs. 50–60 to Rs. 120+ today.
Even when we look at our airlines — we saw intense competition more than a decade ago when players like Air India, IndiGo GoAir, Jet Airways, SpiceJet, etc. fought for the market share. We got better deals and better benefits as customer when the competition was high. Now with almost a duopoly of IndiGo & Tata (Air India+Vistara+AirAsia) we now are paying for carrying more than one bag, for getting the window seat and much more. None of us knows what the future holds in terms of what else will be commercialized by the airlines going forward. But all in all, as customer we lose out because of lesser competition.
In pre-1991 license raj era, the govt. used to control production (state as well as private sector) through permits which led to production inefficiencies & lack of innovation. It hampered the economy for long as we were not competitive enough to be part of global supply chains and demand top dollar for our products, services and skills. We waited months and years to get a landline connection or a Bajaj Chetak. The 1991 budget which opened up our economy and ended the license raj led to improved competition.
The benefits of the competition however aren’t limited only to a specific point of time when we get certain extra benefits for products & services that we consume. Rather, the benefits extend far and wide over decades. Take an example of our automobile industry — both 2 wheelers & 4 wheelers. In early 2000s, we had products like CD100 & SUZUKI Max 100R in two wheelers and probably and Indica in four wheelers. However, the intense competition over the years improved our entire automobile industry. Today our domestic OEMs are churning out great products Ather 450X, Ola S1 Pro, all offerings of Royal Enfield in 2-wheelers and products like XUV700, Nexon EV, etc. Even the foreign brands like Suzuki & Hyundai are compelled to build safer vehicles as the domestic manufacturers take the lead. It wouldn't be surprising if the Indian EV leaders take over the world over next 4 decades. And while this may also natural progression, let me bring your attention to the below video. Watch first 5 mins of it before you continue reading below.
The video is one year old. But the observations will stay true and you can find latest applicable videos by searching on YouTube. What you want to see in the video is the type of bikes being used. While the video is from the year 2022, you will feel like you are walking in India of 2002 as the quality of the bikes is same as that of CD100 and Max100R. Just FYI — even with 4 wheeler, the majority of the sales in Pakistan belong to Alto, Yaris, Corolla & City. On this side of the border, the automobile picture looks a lot better as the competition has improved our automobiles significantly. So the benefit of the competition aren’t limited the value provided by the product or the service for that point of time but rather they extend over the period as the base keeps getting better and better.
Coming to why I wrote so much and the point that I’m trying to drive. I keep hearing from some corners (Don’t be surprised but I actually DO HEAR it more often than you can imagine) that people aren’t much bothered about the autocratic nature of the current dispensation and it would be fine even if we convert our nation into a dictatorship next year onwards. So if you are actively considering to favour an autocracy, let me give you the counter point — No you will not be better off in an autocratic country. Rather, you will fair better by keeping the competition alive and kicking.
Today, even with a majority of just 30 odd seats (303 vs 272 of majority mark)
- Fuel prices are at 100+
- Gas prices are at 1000+
- Inflation is through the roof
- Toll is Rs. 300+ for a 120 km drive b/w Bengaluru & Mysuru or b/w Mumbai & Pune
- International Olympic medal winning players face sexual harassments in the hands of the member of the ruling party
- A state in the country is burning for more than 4 months
- You are earning & spending in market at 2023 level but your 80c limit is stuck in 2014.
There are countless other things which can be listed to prove that you are worse-off today than a decade ago. And again all of this is with just 2nd time majority where your rulers are still answerable to you at least on paper. If we end up in an autocracy, over the next 20 years, it is very likely that we will be at equal level as that of the bike riders in Pakistan. Ones who get horrible products and yet can’t do anything about it.
When we don’t like a shopkeeper or a street seller, we go to next one on the same street. But not all of us (we are total of 140 cr.) can afford to move to a new country to get a new govt if we don’t like the current one. The best thing for us to do is to strengthen the 2nd best option that we have — to strengthen our democracy by voting out the regime which is trying to convert it into an autocracy. By doing so, we will only be doing good to ourselves and our future generations.
P.S. — Excuse the typos. Will address them over time.
