The Rajya Sabha recently passed the Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which amends the Competition Act, 2022.
The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha during the Monsoon Session of Parliament on August 5, 2022. Before being passed by the lower house of Parliament, it was referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, chaired by Jayant Sinha, for review.
The Bill proposes to amend the Competition Act to regulate mergers and acquisitions based on transaction value. Deals worth more than 2,000 crore will require the approval of the Competition Commission of India (CCI). It also proposes shortening the time it takes the CCI to issue an order on such transactions from 210 to 150 days.
Furthermore, the Bill seeks to broaden the scope of entities that can be considered to be parties to anti-competitive agreements. At the moment, only businesses or individuals in similar fields can be held accountable for such agreements.
The Bill, however, intends to broaden this to include businesses or individuals who do not operate in similar fields.
Another proposed introduction is a framework for expediting investigation resolution through settlement and commitment.
The Bill also decriminalizes certain offences under the Act by replacing fines with civil penalties. These offenses include failure to comply with CCI orders and Director General (DG) directives relating to anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominant position.
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