The Parliament passed the Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2023 with Rajya Sabha also approved it on April 3.
- The Bill, which seeks to amend the Competition Act, 2002, was passed by the Lok Sabha on March 29.
Key provisions
- It will empower the CCI to impose stiff penalties based on global turnover of an entity for anti-competitive practices by an additional amendment that was moved by the ministry of corporate affairs.
- The rate of penalty for any abuse of dominant position would now be imposed upto 10% of the global turnover of the entity or three times the profits of the companies for the last three preceding financial years.
- An explanation was inserted to Section 27 (b) to provide for determination of turnover through regulations framed by the Commission.
- Through another key amendment, all deal values involving acquisitions, mergers and amalgamations exceeding Rs 2000 crore having target enterprise in India shall be notified to the CCI for approval before their consummation.
- It has also introduced a Green Channel route for certain combinations which shall be eligible for deemed approval in a trust-based framework, upon filing of a combination notice.
- De-minimis exemption for combinations below a certain threshold (measured in terms of asset or turnover) would be provided through rules is proposed to be included in the Act itself.
- Companies facing CCI investigations would now be able to offer solutions to the regulator – in exchange, the CCI would drop its investigation.
