Established juris prudence; lesser penalty, evolved leniency framework, streamlined combinations regulations; CCI compliance manual
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Chairman CCI highlighted enhanced evolution of the competition regime in India by talking about establishment of juris prudence on vital issues, allowance of lesser penalty, amendment of leniency regulations, streamlining of combination regulations and release of CCI compliance manual. Mr. Devender Kumar Sikri, Chairman, Competition Commission of India was addressing the Annual Competition Law and Practice Conference organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) today. 669 out of 895 anti-trust cases filed with the Commission had been cleared, he said.
Appreciating that the Conference is vital for a dialogue between the ‘regulator’ and the ‘regulated,’ he stressed that the Commission is aware of the issues that industry faces and keen to engage with stakeholders to ease doing business in India. He said the Competition Compliance Manual was published earlier this year and has received appreciation from the industry for providing certainty and predictability through such guidance. He urged that for a complete compliance mechanism, compliance programmes should be followed by regular audits. He further stated that the Commission is presently developing guidelines on the imposition of penalties.
Chairperson Sikri acknowledged that the concept of relevant turnover aligns with international best practices and would certainly lead to significant improvements in doing business in India. He stated that the Commission will introduce ‘Know it Yourself Online Module’ within a few months that will help enterprises understand whether any contemplated transaction is notifiable or not.
Prof. TCA Anant, Chief Statistician of India and Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation addressed the Conference highlighted that the country needed to establish ‘relevant market’ and rely on the market back in the year 1991 during liberalisation. He spoke over the blurring line between the jurisdictions of various sectoral regulators and the CCI emphasizing upon the difference in their mandates. He applauded the Commission for handling the complex task of balancing regulation and promotion competition law in India.
Mr. Shuva Mandal, Group General Counsel, Tata Sons Limited appreciated the interaction between various regulators talking about how they work in conjunction. He highlighted industry issues being faced by corporates requesting consideration of the same by CCI.
Ms. Zia Mody, Chairperson, CII National Committee on Regulatory Affairs and Managing Partner of AZB & Partners appreciated the remarkable job done by the Commission in a short span of time. Particularly, she observed that the ICN Annual Conference will be held in India earlier next year and congratulated the Commission for this. She also noted that the Commission has witnessed a significant rise in complaints which demonstrates the increased awareness of competition law amongst the stakeholders which reflects their trust reposed in the Commission. Ms. Mody thanked Chairman Sikri for his efforts at initiating and sustaining this dialogue between the industry and the CCI.
The Annual Conference on Competition Law and Practice was organised by CII on 4 August 2017 in Mumbai, where along with the Chairperson – CCI, Members - CCI Mr. Sudhir Mital, Mr. Augustine Peter, Mr. GP Mittal and Mr S L Bunker and Adviser Jyoti Jindgar, also addressed the Conference. Sessions on ‘Appellate processes and judicial review of competition decisions,’ ‘Cartel enforcement and leniency,’ ‘Merger Control - what Impacts Industry? and ‘Unilateral Conduct and Innovation’ were held during the Conference. The Conference was well attended by over 170 delegates.