Competition law amendment bill gets President's assent

New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu has given assent to the bill to amend the competition law and the changes seek to ensure regulatory certainty and foster a trust-based business environment.

The bill to amend the Competition Act was cleared by Parliament on April 3, nearly eight months after its introduction in Lok Sabha, which gave its nod on March 29. The bill was also referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, which tabled its report in Parliament on December 13 last year.

Rajya Sabha approved the bill on April 3. Both Houses passed the legislation without any discussion.

"Hon'ble President of India has given assent to the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2023, an act further to amend the Competition Act, 2002," CCI said in a tweet on Wednesday.

Separately, in a series of tweets, Competition Commission of India (CCI) Acting Chairperson Sangeeta Verma said the updated legislation ensures regulatory certainty and fosters a trust-based business environment.

"The updated law provides for faster timelines for approval of M&A filings. Introduces settlement and commitment framework for faster market correction," she said.

According to her, the amended legislation also incentivises parties in an ongoing cartel investigation in terms of lesser penalty to disclose information regarding other cartels.

Besides, she said it provides certainty to stakeholders by prescribing limitation period of three years for filing information on anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominant position.

The amended law has also introduced "value of transaction" as another criteria for notifying mergers and acquisitions to CCI.

This is the first time since the enforcement of the Competition Act in 2009 that amendments are being made to the Act.

The legislation was brought in 2002 and subsequently, it underwent amendments in 2007 and 2009. In May 2009, the anti-trust provisions of the law came into force and two years later in May 2011, CCI started screening mergers and acquisitions.