The Government has constituted a Competition Law Review Committee to review the Competition Act to ensure that the legislation is in sync with the changing business environment.
According to an official press release, the committee will review the competition regulations in view of changing business environment and bring necessary changes, if required. It will also look into international best practices in competition field, especially anti-trust laws, merger guidelines and handling cross border competition issues.
Other regulatory regimes, institutional mechanism and government policies, which overlap with the Competition Act, will also be studied by the committee. The committee will submit the report within three months of the date of its first meeting, the release said.
The Competition Act was passed in 2002 and the Competition Commission of India was set up in 2009. However, the press release stated that since the inception of the commission, the size of the economy has grown immensely making it the one of the fifth largest economies in the world.
“In this context, it is essential that the Competition Law is strengthened, and re-calibrated to promote best practices which result in the citizens of this country achieving their aspirations and value for money,” the release added.
The review committee comprises the Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Chairperson of CCI, Chairperson of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India, Haigreve Khaitan from Khaitan & Co, Pallavi Shardul Shroff, Advocate from law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, S Chakravarthy, IAS (Retd.), Aditya Bhattacharjea, Professor of Economics, Delhi School of Economics and Joint Secretary (Competition), MCA.