The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, in exercise of the powers conferred by
clause (a) of Section 54 of the Competition
Act, 2002, has issued a notification, in public interest, exempting every
person or enterprise who is a party to a combination as referred to in Section
5 of the said Act from giving notice within thirty days mentioned in
sub-section (2) of Section 6 of the said Act, subject to the provisions of
sub-section (2A) of Section 6 and Section 43A of the said Act, for a period of
five years from the date of publication of the notification.
The
measure has been taken to alleviate the concerns of stakeholders who felt
constrained by the thirty days deadline stipulated in the Act for submission of
notices of combination to the Competition Commission of India.
India has a suspensory regime wherein combinations come into effect only
after either 210 days have passed from the day on which the notice has been
given to the Commission or the Commission has passed orders under Section 31,
whichever is earlier. In most jurisdictions with such suspensory regimes,
notice of combinations can be given by enterprises to Competition Authorities
at their convenient point of time but prior to giving effect to the said
combination. With this measure, the combinations regime in India will be in
line with the global best practices and enterprises will be free to submit
notice of combinations to the Commission at a time convenient to them but prior
to giving effect to such combinations. Enterprises are also, as per the
notification, mandated to submit the notice in compliance of sub-section (2A)
of Section 6 of the Act prior to giving effect to combinations and are liable
for penalty, under section 43A of the Act, if they fail to do so.
The measure is in line with the Government’s objective of providing Ease of
Doing Business in India and is expected to bring about immense relief in cases
of combinations covered under the Competition Act, 2002.
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DSM/SS/KA