Amendment by Competition Commission of India

• The Competition Commission of India (CCI), in continuation of its efforts towards simplifying and providing greater clarity on the application of the combination provisions of the Act and the Combination Regulations, has further amended the Combination Regulations.
• This amendment inter alia provide certainty & transparency and expedites faster disposal of combination cases before CCI.

Important amendments:

• The provisions of the Competition Act, 2002 (“Act”) relating to the regulation of combinations as well as the Combination Regulations have been in force with effect from 1st June 2011.
• A key change brought about by the present amendments is that the parties to combinations can now submit remedies voluntarily in response to the notice issued under Section 29(1) of the Act.
• If such remedies are considered sufficient to address the perceived competition harm, the combination can be approved. This amendment is expected to expedite disposal of such combination cases.
• In another significant amendment, where the notice is found to exhibit significant information gaps, parties to combinations are allowed to withdraw the notice and refile the same.
• With this amendment, the parties could address the deficiencies without facing an invalidation by CCI.
• Further, fee already paid in respect of such notice shall be adjusted against the fee payable in respect of new notice, if the refiling is done within a period of 3 months.
• Apart from these, certain consequential and other clarificatory changes have also been made in the Combination Regulations.
• About Competition Commission of India:
• Competition is the best means of ensuring that the ‘Common Man’ or ‘Aam Aadmi’ has access to the broadest range of goods and services at the most competitive prices.
• With increased competition, producers will have maximum incentive to innovate and specialize. This would result in reduced costs and wider choice to consumers.
• A fair competition in market is essential to achieve this objective.
• Our goal is to create and sustain fair competition in the economy that will provide a ‘level playing field’ to the producers and make the markets work for the welfare of the consumers.

The Competition Act

• The Competition Act, 2002, as amended by the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2007, follows the philosophy of modern competition laws.
• The Act prohibits anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position by enterprises and regulates combinations (acquisition, acquiring of control and M&A), which causes or likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition within India.

By: Vishal