Publications

In January 2025, India’s Consumer Protection Authority issued notices to Ola and Uber based on the allegation that these ride-sharing platforms were differentially pricing services based on the profile of the end user — iPhones were charged higher than Android devices and, anecdotally, also variably based on remaining battery level. The question of processing customer data extraneous to the relevant service based on mandatory consent to…

There is increasing debate surrounding the unprecedented use of unilateral sanctions in recent years (e.g. by the US, the EU, Japan, China, and Russia) — specifically, their legality under international law (as countermeasures), legality under WTO law (as national security exceptions), their architecture and overall market-distorting effect, and investment protection and/​or administrative disputes against (allegedly wrongful)…

A recent paper has undertaken a striking ​‘first systemic analysis’ on whether developing country governments ​‘treat foreign firms better, worse or the same as domestic firms’ and has concluded that ​‘foreign firms tend to be treated at least as well by developing country governments as comparable domestic firms on average’ (see, Aisbett et al., Relative Treatment of Aliens: how level is the playing field for foreign firms in developing countries…

Reflecting international practice, a large variety of concessions agreements in India contain stabilization clauses — or, more specifically, a ​‘change in law’ clause which (in the version generally used in Indian practice) entitles a concessionaire impacted adversely by a ​‘change in law’ event to be recompensed to achieve economic equilibrium i.e. restitution to a position of profitability projected at the time of entering into the concession. Not…

On 24 February 1603, three Dutch ships belonging to the then-newly formed Dutch East India Company anchored off the Strait of Singapore. Later that night, a large Portuguese carrack, Santa Catarina, anchored next to them. It was a gigantic U‑shaped boat carrying nearly a thousand people (majority slaves), 1200 bales of Chinese raw silk, several hundred ounces of musk, and a large amount of Ming porcelain. Losing no time, the…