Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday administered the Oath of Office to the new Competition Commission of India (CCI) Chairperson Ravneet Kaur in the capital.
Kaur, a 1988 batch Punjab cadre IAS officer, was last Tuesday appointed as CCI Chief for five years.
She has now taken pre-mature retirement from IAS service (Kaur was due to retire in October) and central government has accepted her decision.
Kaur, who has over three decades of experience in various positions within central and state governments, has assumed office as CCI Chairperson, according to sources.
Kaur’s appointment comes seven months after the erstwhile full-time regular Chairman Ashok Kumar Gupta demitted office on October 20 last year.
Her appointment is significant as it will ensure quorum for CCI and help the competition watchdog to take critical actions against big tech and those found to have indulged in anti competitive conduct, said CCI observers.
It is also significant because several decisions and actions (such as the Cement cartel matter) are pending before the CCI. In the absence of a full-time Chairperson, the CCI has faced quorum issues and has been unable to adjudicate on anti-trust matters.
Kaur, who hails from Punjab and is well-versed in Hindi, Punjabi, and English, holds an MA in economics and M.Sc in Public Economic Management from the University of Birmingham.
She has been serving the State cadre (Punjab) since July 2019 after her stint as the Chairman and Managing Director of India Tourism Development Corporation (2017-19).
Prior to assuming charge as the CCI Chief, Kaur was the Additional Chief Secretary and Financial Commissioner at the Department of Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management, Government of Punjab in Chandigarh.
Although the government initiated the process of finding a successor to Gupta in July last year, the entire process faced challenges, prompting the government to conduct a second round of selection after scrapping the first round. On on October 25 last year, the Centre appointed Sangeeta Verma as the interim Chairperson of CCI.