Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, Oct 21, 2005
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Friday, Oct 21, 2005 |
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Corporate
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Regulatory Bodies & Rulings Competition panel to have corporate structure Richa Mishra
New Delhi , Oct 20 THE Competition Commission of India (CCI) may soon have a new structure. The Ministry of Company Affairs proposes to give it the shape of a corporate body by doing away with the concept of having benches in the Commission. A senior Company Affairs official said though the role of the CCI would remain broadly the same as envisaged in the Competition Act 2002, the proposed amendments to the Act are likely to suggest that the Commission would be a `collegium' of experts discharging an advisory and regulatory role. The judicial powers of the CCI would be given to the proposed Competition Appellate Tribunal. Elaborating on the new structure, the Ministry official told Business Line that the new proposed concept would give the Commission a board like structure on the lines of the capital market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Besides bringing down the strength of the CCI, an advisory and regulatory role is also being considered for the board of the commission to prevent anti-competitive practices, promote competition and protect the interests of consumers. At present, the Act stipulates the formation of benches - which would be constituted by the chairperson - comprising not less than two members. Besides, every bench would consist of at least one judicial member. Further, there is also likely to be a change in the procedure stipulated in the Act for deciding a case where members of a bench differ on any issue. The Act states that if the members of a bench differ in opinion on any point, they shall state the point of difference and make a reference to the chairperson, who shall either hear the point or refer the case for hearing to other members. The concept of collective consensus by a board would help solve this problem, the official said, indicating that the Government was proposing the concept of a `quorum.' The amendments to the Competition Act would also ensure that there are no overlaps with other sector specific regulators. The Ministry is aware that some of the sector-specific regulators may also examine competition dimensions emanating from mergers or amalgamations and there may be overlap of jurisdiction, the official said adding that the Ministry was likely to propose that the sectoral regulators may approach CCI and the Commission would take a view on the issues concerned. Speaking to Business Line later, Mr Prem Chand Gupta, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Company Affairs said following the Supreme Court directive, the Ministry would be bringing in amendments to the Competition Act.
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