CCI defends proposed amendments

According to the recent amendments which regulator said would make the regulations more 'forward looking'

Fairtrade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) defended the recent amendments to the combination regulation. According to the recent amendments which the regulator said would make the regulations more “forward looking,”there is a proposal through which CCI can invalidate a notice seeking approval in case the same is incomplete.

Defending the proposed amendment, a senior official of the commission said that the commission used to receive incomplete filings which did not gave proper details of the process and CCI had to spend a lot of time in getting the details.   “The commission had to chase the concerned parties for complete information; even then many of them were unable to comply with the norms, but we are a time driven organisation and this was a necessary step,” said M S Sahoo, member CCI.

He was speaking on the sidelines of an event organised by the Institute of Company  Secretaries of India.  The industry had expressed reservations over this saying this may result in indefinite delaying filing process, which may result in failing deadlines. The parties in such cases will end up paying hefty sum as penalty.  The industry also expressed concern over the fact that according to the amendments, CCI may or may not ask the parties to clear the defects before invalidating the notice. “CCI may or may not ask the parties to clear the defects before invalidating the notice.

Moreover, as the decision to invalidate a notice may be treated as an administrative decision, it is unlikely to be appeal able to the Competition Appellate Tribunal under the specified sections. This could lead to immense uncertainty and limited options for the notifying parties, having an adverse impact on clearance timelines, particularly in global transactions," are port from law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas had said.  “We will ensure that the process of natural justice is executed properly, there will be ample scope of communication with the concerned parties before a notice is made invalid,” Sahoo said. The Combination Regulations were first introduced in 2011 as the Competition Commission of India (procedure in regard to the transaction of business relating to combinations) Regulations,2011.

They were amended on 23 February 2012, 4 April 2013 and 28 March 2014. While the draft amendments were put up in the website in March for feedback from concerned parties, after gathering public comments, CCI earlier this month amended the combination regulations.