COMPETITION LAW REVIEW COMMITTEE

The government had constituted a Competition Law Review Committee last October to review existing laws. A Committee constituted to review competition law has recommended introduction of a green channel fast approval of mergers and acquisition, in effect proposing to move towards more of a disclosure based regime.

The panel headed by Corporate Affairs Secretary Injeti Srinivas was constituted last September to review the Competition Act , 2002. The committee handed its report to the Finance Minister on Wednesday

Injeti Srinivas, Secretary (Corporate Affairs), presented the Report of the Review Committee to the Union Minister of Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman.

Competition Law Review Committee

The Government of India constituted a Competition Law Review Committee in 2018 to review the existing Competition law framework and make recommendations to further strengthen the framework to inter alia meet new economy challenges.
The Committee was chaired by Injeti Srinivas (Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs).

Key recommendations of the Committee:

Introduction of a ‘Green Channel’ for combination notifications to enable fast-paced regulatory approvals for vast majority of mergers and acquisitions.
Introducing a dedicated bench in NCLAT for hearing appeals under the Competition Act.
Introduction of express provisions to identify ‘hub and spoke’ agreements as well as agreements that do not fit within typical horizontal or vertical anti-competitive structures to cover agreements related to business structures and models synonymous with new age markets.
Additional enforcement mechanism of ‘Settlement & Commitments” in the interests of speedier resolution of cases of anti-competitive conduct.
CCI to issue guidelines on imposition of penalty to ensure more transparency and faster decision making which will encourage compliance by businesses.
Strengthening the governance structure of CCI with the introduction of a Governing Board to oversee advocacy and quasi-legislative functions, leaving adjudicatory functions to the Whole-time Members.
Merging DG’s Office with CCI as an ‘Investigation Division’ as it aids CCI in discharging an inquisitorial rather than adversarial mandate. However, functional autonomy must be protected.
Opening of CCI offices at regional level to carry out non-adjudicatory functions such as research, advocacy etc. and interaction with State Governments and State regulators.

The Competition Act, 2002 was enacted by the Parliament of India and governs Indian competition law. It replaced the archaic The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969

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Source: PIB

ECONOMY

COMPETITION LAW REVIEW COMMITTEE