GS Paper 3
Syllabus: Liberalization/ Parliament-Structure, functioning and conduct of business, Competition Commission of India etc.
Source: Economic times
Context: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, has suggested that the government extend the provision of settlement under the Competition Amendment Bill 2022 to cartels so as to make the initiative more pragmatic.
- The amendment to the competition act broadens the scope of ‘anti-competitive agreements’ to catch entities that facilitate cartelization even if they are not engaged in identical trade practices.
Further suggestions of the Committee:
- It recommended some changes to the transaction value threshold prescribed in the draft bill to prevent certain mergers and acquisitions (M&As) from coming under the ambit of the Competition Commission of India (CCI). However, it didn’t suggest any change in the value of the threshold set at Rs 2000 Crores.
- The Amendment Bill makes it mandatory to notify the Commission of any transaction with a deal value in excess of ₹2,000 croresand if either of the parties has ‘substantial business operations in India’.
- Don’t reduce the timeline as there is a shortage of staff
- The new Bill seeks to accelerate the timeline from 210 working days to only 150 working dayswith a conservatory period of 30 days for extensions to approve the merger.
- The Commission should have at least one judicial member
What are Antitrust laws?
They are regulations that encourage competition by limiting the market power of any particular firm
Note: Further information about the Bill and related Questions have already been dealt with here. Please go through it once.
