Competition litigation in the country is set to get even more expensive with CCI proposing to levy fees on miscellaneous applications in competition cases.
The plan to levy fees on such applications is part of the draft amendments to the Competition Commission of India (General ) Regulations 2009 issued on Thursday. Public and stakeholder comments have been invited on the draft amendments till July 8.
As part of the proposed changes, the CCI also seeks to increase fees for interlocutory applications. For instance, the fee has been pegged at ₹ 3 lakh per miscellaneous application in case of companies with over ₹50 crore turnover.
While intention may be to prevent frivolous complaints, such high fees are unaffordable to many, said competition law experts. Over the last one year, CCI had been increasing various fees including merger control fees, inspection fees, access to records fees etc.
Majority of the changes in the latest draft amendments to the General regulations are to align with competition (amendment) Act 2023. This is clearly showing that CCI is going to notify several of the provisions in the amendment law in the coming days, experts said.
Competition (Amendment) Act, 2023 was passed by the Centre and received Presidential assent on April 11,2023. This created a need for amendment/ repeal/ overhauling of the various regulations framed by the CCI as well as for introduction of certain new ones.
Accordingly, amendments are being proposed to the Competition Commission of India (General) Regulations, 2009 as follows:
(a) pursuant to the changes made in the Competition Act, 2002 by Competition Amendment Act of 2023;
(b) to incorporate the amendments made in the other regulations and/or framing of new regulations by the CCI; and
(c) to review the existing regulations based on experience gained since 2009 till date.