The Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2023 is recently passed by the Lok Sabha, amending the Competition Act, 2022. This new legislation grants the Competition Commission of India (CCI) the power to penalize entities engaged in anti-competitive behavior based on their global turnover. This is a departure from the previous practice of penalizing entities based on their annual domestic turnover.
The new provision on global turnover will not be exclusive to tech companies, but they are likely to be the most affected as their business operations often span across various geographies.
The new legislation also affords the CCI a greater say in mergers and acquisitions, requiring entities to seek its approval for deals worth more than Rs 2,000 crore where both parties have substantial business operations in India.
Additionally, the CCI may incentivize parties in ongoing cartel investigations to disclose information regarding other cartels, in exchange for lesser penalties. The bill has also reduced the time limit for approval of mergers and acquisitions from 210 days to 150 days. This new legislation may pose challenges for global tech companies, including Google, which was recently found to have engaged in anti-competitive behavior in India’s Android ecosystem.
