Advocate Ramkishan Saraswat Vs Secretary Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) (Competition Commission of India)
Summary: The Competition Commission of India (CCI), in Case No. 26 of 2026, considered an Information filed by Advocate Ramkishan Saraswat under Section 19(1)(a) of the Competition Act, 2002 against the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA) and M/s Precision Biometric India Pvt. Ltd. The Informant alleged contravention of Sections 3(4) and 4 of the Act in connection with migration of USB cryptographic tokens from the FIPS 140-2 technical standard to FIPS 140-3.
According to the Informant, OP-2 issued an advisory in January 2026 mandating immediate and compulsory migration to the FIPS 140-3 standard for USB cryptographic tokens, with a cut-off date of 21.09.2026. The Informant alleged that the manner, sequencing and timing of the implementation had been tailored to the readiness of the “InnalT” token line owned by OP-3. It was further alleged that OP-3 was the only vendor empanelled or capable of supplying FIPS 140-3 compliant tokens in the domestic market and had consequently obtained a 100% market share.
The Informant identified the relevant product market as the “Market for FIPS-compliant USB Cryptographic Tokens used for Digital Signature Certificates (DSC)” and the relevant geographic market as the “Territory of India”, resulting in the relevant market being stated as the “Market for FIPS-compliant USB Cryptographic Tokens used for Digital Signature Certificates (DSC) in India”. The Informant alleged that the regulatory intervention created technical and regulatory entry barriers because testing, evaluation and obtaining FIPS 140-3 cryptographic module validation certification required a lead time of 18 to 24 months.
