Two Bills introduced in the Lok Sabha including Bill to amend competition law

Competition (Amendment) Bill also seeks a limitation period of three years for filing information on anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominant position before the CCI

Two Bills including one to change the structure of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Friday.

Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Rao Inderjit Singh introduced the Competition (Amendment) Bill seeking substantive provisions to allow the CCI to address the needs of new-age markets.

The other Bill, the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (Amendment) Bill, was introduced by Law Minister Kiren Rijiju to change its name to India International Arbitration Centre.

The Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2022 also has provisions for having ‘value of transaction’ as a criteria for notifying combinations to the CCI.

Other proposed amendments include a limitation period of three years for filing information on anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominant position before the CCI, besides changes in certain definitions like ‘enterprise’, ‘relevant product market’, ‘group’ and ‘control’ to provide clarity.

Broadening anti-competitive agreements, faster approvals of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), reducing penalty for parties willing to share information during an investigation and reducing litigations are some of the key features in the Bill that seeks to bring in sweeping reforms to the competition law that was enacted in 2002.

Among other amendments, the government has proposed the appointment of the Director General by the CCI with the prior approval of the Central government and issuance of guidelines with respect to penalties to be imposed by the CCI.