Penalty for unfair trade practices to be linked to global turnover
Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Wednesday notified regulations prescribing monetary penalty on the global turnover of a company engaged in anti-competitive conduct.
The move will boost the regulator's chances of curbing such antitrust activities involving multinational firms, including Big Tech, as experts said the penalty amount would be significantly higher because it would no longer be pegged only to the firm's turnover in a relevant market.
The CCI regulations followed a notification issued by the ministry of corporate affairs stipulating March 6 as the date for implementing the relevant provisions of the Competition (Amendment) Act 2023 that deal with the new monetary penalty regime.
Under the new provision, the CCI can levy a penalty up to 10% of a company's global turnover for the abuse of dominant position as per Section 27 of the amended law.
Neelambera Sandeepan, partner at Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan Attorneys, said: «The penalty guidelines will provide more certainty and predictability to enterprises under investigation on the likely quantum of penalty they can face».
The regulations «balance the aggravating and mitigating circumstances to determine penalties,» Sandeepan said. «It is promising to see that the CCI will also take into account the existence of a competition compliance programme as a factor while making the penalty determination,» she added.
Commitment, settlement mechanisms notified
In separate notifications, the CCI has also unveiled regulations governing the so-called
