The Competition Commission of India (CCI) today released the regulation of Combinations related with the implementation of provisions of Section 5 & 6 of Competition Act (the Combination Provisions, which have been envisaged to prevent creation of anti competitive environment in Indian economy),are coming into effect from 1st June, 2011. Elaborating the modalities of new rules to the media persons at a press conference here in New Delhi today Shri DhanendraKumar, Chairman CCI said that as per the scheme of the Act regulation has been prepared by the Commission in a highly participatory process, consulting various stake holders which included consumers, industrial/business associations, statutory bodies, Government departments, law firms, professional institutions, experts in law, economics, financial services, trade associations etc. Also, detailed consultations were held through inviting suggestions on Draft Regulations, which were put on the web site inviting the suggestions from various stake holders. The open houses were also held in New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore to take into account aspirations of the Indian industry and consumer. The consultation was also held with international business firms and law firms through various methods including video conferencing. He said due care has been taken to ensure that regulation lead to certainty in regulatory frame work and become a tool to economic growth of our economy.
Shri Dhanendra Kumar said An attempt has been made to address the various concerns expressed by stake holders during different stages of framing of these regulations and the final outcome is the result of marathon exercise of consultation with all the stakeholders. To that extent, it represents the collective wisdom of all stakeholders, achieved through a unique process of consultation and transparency between the regulator and other stakeholders. Also,
a consolidated summary of the issues raised during consultative process and the redress mechanism are annexed as a table-I and the highlights are as under:
Ø Certainty about the review process of regulation of combinations in a maximum of 30 days. Exemption from filing of notification introduced to a large category of business transactions such as acquisition of stock in trade, raw material, assets/investment in ordinary course of business, bonus issue etc.
Ø Clarity regarding the cases in which notification is required to be filed, after the rules come into force on 1st June, 2011.
Ø Relaxation to avoid multiple filings in interconnected transactions.
Ø Extremely simple and user friendly form as a default option.
Ø Massive reduction of filing fee from Rs.40 lakhs to Rs.50,000/- . Only in exceptional cases, the fee of Rs. 10 lakhs with Form II may be opted for by the parties.
Ø No requirement of notification without a positive connection with market in India.
Ø Elaborate safeguards for confidentiality.
Ø Clarification about the methodology of calculation of assets and turnover.
ISSUES RAISED BY VARIOUS STAKEHOLDERS ON DRAFT COMBINATION REGULATIONS AND THEIR
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The Competition Act of India was enacted in 2003 and commission commenced its functioning w.e.f. 20thMay, 2009 with enforcement of Section 3 & 4 (Anti Competitive Agreement and Abuse of Dominance Provisions) of the Act coming into effect. The objectives of the Act are sought to be achieved through the Competition Commission of India (CCI), which has been established by the Central Government with effect from 14th October 2003. CCI consists of a Chairperson and 6 Members appointed by the Central Government.