The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has extended the deputation of its Director-General Atul Verma by three months with effect from September 1. He will now hold office till November 30.

This is the second time Verma has got a deputation tenure extension. The CCI had in May this year given Verma a three-month extension till August-end.

Verma, a 1991 batch IPS officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre, was appointed as DG in June 2020 for three years. The DG is the independent investigation arm of the CCI.

During his tenure as DG, Verma has handled several high-profile investigations against Big Tech, including Google, Apple and Amazon, besides conducting dawn raids in several industries. 

Till recently, the power to appoint the DG lay with the MCA; recent amendments to the Competition Act have transferred this power to CCI. 

In July this year, the CCI had invited applications from Central and State government officers for the post of Director-General (Investigation) on deputation. The last date for submitting applications is September 15.

In July, the Centre modified the recruitment rules — Competition Commission of India (Director-General) Recruitment Rules, 2009 — to alter the composition of the selection committee for the appointment of the DG. 

Earlier, the selection committee was headed by the Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). 

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