Under the Act, the Competition Commissionn of India (CCI) has been established. It seeks to promote free trade and fair competition. It seeks to curb anti-competitive practices — cartelisation, abuse of dominant position (ABP) etc.

The CCI also screens M&As too since 2011. The criteria for this are asset and turnover thresholds for which the CCI’s approval is necessary. Section 5 of the ACT specifies the thresholds.

The Review Committee of this Act set up in 2018 found it necessary to recalibrate the Act. At times the M & A may fall below the thresholds but wields enough market power to throttle competition. Instead of assets and turnover, the deal value threshold(DVT) must be considered. If it crosses Rs.2000 crore with significant India presence, the M & A must be notified to the CCI.

There are anti-trust cases for contravention of anti-competitive agreements (ACAs) and anti-dominant position (ABP). There is a need for settlement proceedings here. The revised Act will have a framework for settlement and commitment for faster resolution of anti-trust cases.

The time limit for assessments will be cut (from 210 days to 150 days) and for forming a prima facie opinion (from 30 days to 20 days).

It seeks to expand the scope of entities that can be considered a part of anti-competitive agreements (ACAs).

Wishing You All a Happy New Year.