Competition Act

The petition alleges that the Competition Act settlement regime prevents consumers, informants and other affected parties from questioning CCI settlement orders

The committee had already met MCA, CCI on commitment regulations on March 10

In its plea, Apple is contesting amendments introduced in 2023 to Section 27(b) of the Competition Act, as well as the CCI's 2024 guidelines on determining monetary penalties

Supreme Court says volume discounts are not discriminatory unless unequally applied; experts say ruling may influence CCI probes into tech giants like Google and Amazon

US court rules Google broke antitrust laws in ad tech market, paving way for possible breakup of its ad business. DOJ pushes for sale of key units like Google Ad Manager

The government aims to scrutinise mergers that might escape under the traditional "asset" or turnover-based thresholds

In March, Microsoft hired Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of Google DeepMind, as head of its newly-created AI unit, followed by a number of employees from Inflection, which he set up in 2022

The Draft Digital Competition Bill is part of a more significant endeavour by the government to address the above competition concerns in the digital and technology ecosystem

Secretary Krishnan says will share the industry feedback with MCA

The IAMAI has argued against the need for ex-ante regulations for digital markets in their submission on the draft Digital Competition Bill

"It is an overarching section. Akin to the existing Law, Government has effectively kept room to make exemptions in a number of situations," said Sagardeep Rathi, Partner, Khaitan & Co

The Draft Digital Competition Bill has set out a process for investigation of the contraventions listed in the Bill in line with the similar process in the parent Competition Act

The CCI will have the power to levy a fine of up to 1 per cent of the global turnover of the online entity in case it fails to make this declaration, sources said

Merger transactions with acquisition targets having assets under Rs 450 cr or turnover below Rs 1,250 cr are exempt from CCI approval

Fair trade regulator Competition Commission can now impose penalties on companies based on their global turnover for violations, with the government notifying the amended competition norms. Till now, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has been deciding penalties on the basis of a company's turnover from a particular business segment where violations have been found. The corporate affairs ministry has notified the provisions under the amended the Competition Act with effect from March 6. Vaibhav Choukse, Partner and Head of Competition Lawa at JSA Advocates and Solicitors, said the amendment empowers the CCI to impose a penalty on the global turnover of a company derived from all the products and services. This amendment is likely to have major implications on multi-product companies and those with global operations and may lead to unfair and discriminatory outcomes between (I) domestic companies and the one with global operations and (II) multi product companies and single .

The current Act already contains a leniency provision

Proposes digital entities to ensure interoperability, data sharing, portability

Pattnaik has 28 years of experience working in various positions in the Indian government. He also worked at the CCI during 2014-2019 in its investigations unit and was head of the unit briefly

The antitrust watchdog has invited stakeholders to submit written comments on these draft regulations within 21 days ending September 13, 2023

By extending jurisdiction beyond direct participants, legal reform strengthens competition enforcement