The Hindu Business Line : Competition Commission to have chairperson, 6 members soon

Chennai, Aug. 22 The Competition Commission regulations are yet to be implemented because of certain glitches, according to the Director-General of Competition Commission of India (CCI), Mr Amitabh Kumar.

Addressing a seminar on Competition Law organised by FICCI in association with The Institute of Company Secretaries of India – Southern India Regional Council, Mr Kumar, said the Commission would soon have a Chairperson and up to six members.

Appellate Tribunal

It would also have an Appellate Tribunal with Chairperson in the rank of Judge and two expert members and the government is in the process of filling up these positions.

Besides it would appoint 120 professionals -- 40 per cent would be economists, there would be an equal number of lawyers and the rest would be financial analysts – and 63 support staff.

“All these things will be in place before end of this fiscal and we will be ready to handle cases,” he said.

Once the CCI becomes operational – the final draft is ready – the MRTP Commission would continue for two more years to complete pending cases and eventually cease to exist, he said.

The Competition Act establishes a comprehensive competition law regulatory framework that will impact every sector of the country’s economy.

Regulating cartels, mergers

It has specific rules regulating cartels, dominant positions and mergers and acquisitions that will have significant impact on the conduct of companies and commercial activities.

At present CCI has fixed time limit of 30 calendar days to clear cases relating to mergers and acquisitions.

The existing law permits up to 210 days.

Only complex cases, which account for 3 to 4 per cent of the total number of cases, would take up to in 210 days, he said.

e-Governance

In order to speed up the process CCI is planning to introduce e-Governance. Mr Kumar said, “We are also in the process of introducing e-Governance where sending information, paying fees, filing merger notifications and receiving orders will be done electronically.

“We are already in talks with a few firms to take up this initiative,” he added.

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