Industry seeks Ordinance to get around CCI quorum hurdle

Subject : Polity

Section : Statutory Organisations / Governance

Concept :

Domestic industry has knocked the doors of Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) expressing concern over the delay in disposal of cases by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
They have informed the government that the lack of quorum in the competition watchdog is seriously hampering the CCI in discharging their functions.

Issue with the composition of CCI

The minimum number of members required for adjudication and approving mergers and acquisitions (M&As) has reduced since Ashok Kumar Gupta demitted the chairman’s office on 25 October after completing his four-year term, the person said requesting anonymity.
The anti-trust regulator now has two whole-time members, including Sangeeta Verma, who was appointed as the acting chairperson for three months or till a full-time chairperson takes office.
In addition to the chairperson, the CCI needs two members to have sufficient quorum to take key decisions, according to CCI Act and existing rules.

Competition Commission of India (CCI)

Competition Commission of India (CCI) is a statutory body of the Government of India responsible for enforcing the Competition Act, 2002, it was duly constituted in March 2009.
The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969 (MRTP Act) was repealed and replaced by the Competition Act, 2002, on the recommendations of the Raghavan committee.

Composition:

The Commission consists of one Chairperson and six Members who shall be appointed by the Central Government.
The commission is a quasi-judicial body which gives opinions to statutory authorities and also deals with other cases. The Chairperson and other Members shall be whole-time Members.

Eligibility criteria of members of CCI:

The Chairperson and every other Member shall be a person of ability, integrity and standing and who, has been, or is qualified to be a judge of a High Court, or, has special knowledge of, and professional experience of not less than fifteen years in international trade, economics, business, commerce, law, finance, accountancy, management, industry, public affairs, administration or in any other matter which, in the opinion of the Central Government, may be useful to the Commission.

Competition Act, 2002

The Competition Act was passed in 2002 and has been amended by the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2007. It follows the philosophy of modern competition laws.
The Act prohibits anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position by enterprises and regulates combinations, which causes an appreciable adverse effect on competition within India.
In accordance with the provisions of the Amendment Act, the Competition Commission of India and the Competition Appellate Tribunal have been established.
The government replaced the Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT) with the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in 2017.