Amendment to Competition Act on cards to rein in digital companies

The Competition Act was legislated in 2002 but the CCI became fully operational in 2009

The Narendra Modi government in its second stint is planning to amend the Competition Act to regulate acquisitions by digital companies that don’t have large assets in India such as Facebook and escape scrutiny by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). 

The de-minimis clause in the Act, which exempts companies without assets in the country from the purview of the CCI, is being examined, officials said.  Now the deal size of the acquisition will be looked into and any acquisition crossing a threshold would draw the CCI’s scrutiny. Currently, the CCI looks into a deal when an acquired company has a