New Delhi, Dec. 29 -- The recent incidence of unprecedented service disruptions at a major domestic airline exposed a significant blind spot. Over-dependence on one (monopoly) or two (duopoly) players for an economically critical service exposes the economy to concentration risk.

In the event of a monopolist failing to provide a key service, economic activity can get severely disrupted. It may be argued that a failure by a monopolist or duopolist to provide a critical economic service is a problem at least as serious as an outright abuse of market dominance by means of anti-competitive practices.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has taken cognizance of the air-service disruption and reportedly plans to examine if the carrier ab...