Keywords: Lok Sabha, CCI, bill
The Competition Amendment Act, 2022 was passed by the Rajya Sabha on Monday to amend the 2002 Competition Act. The Bill had been tabled by the Lok Sabha on 5 August last year and it was adopted by the Lower House on 29 March. The bill is going to become law as soon as the President has signed it, following its passage in both Houses of Parliament.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI), the regulatory authority, is currently working on rules and regulations that will be necessary to bring into force new provisions included in the law, particularly a commitment and settlement system aimed at reducing litigation by means of negotiated settlements[1]. Such arrangements shall be available to cases of antitrust agreements and abuse of dominance, but not cartels. The provisions also increase the scope of CCI merger regulation, making it possible to bring deals involving over ₹2,000 crore that require regulatory approval.
The change in the provisions on penalties is a key feature of this bill. The proposed Bill aims at defining global turnover from all the products and services by any person or undertaking for the purpose of imposing a penalty. In order to move away from the current practice of charging part of a local or relevant market turnover as an infringement penalty, it is proposed that fines should be levied by percentage of global turnover for the offending company. This will provide greater clarity to the rules on merger regulation, as suggested in the original bill that was introduced into Parliament last year.
The bill has been reviewed by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, chaired by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jayant Sinha.
Aditya a student of ILSR, GLA University, Mathura, 2nd Semester, an intern under Legal Vidhiya
[1] LIVEMINT, https://www.livemint.com/news/india/competition-amendment-bill-2023-passed-by-rajya-sabha-to-sync-anti-trust-law-with-the-economy-new-provisions-to-reduce-litigation-and-expand-cci-s-scope-11680521570816.html (last visited on 4th April, 2023).
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