Parliament passes Competition (Amendment) Bill amid ruckus
Apr 03, 2023
New Delhi [India], April 3 : The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed The Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2022 to amend the Competition Act of 2002.
The bill was passed today amid ruckus in the Parliament as the opposition parliamentarians raised slogans on the Adani-Hindenburg issue and continued with their demand for a joint parliamentary committee-led probe on the issue.
The bill was passed by Lok Sabha on Wednesday without much debate.
Deals with a transaction value of more than Rs 2,000 crore, according to the Bill, will require the approval of the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
"...if the value of any transaction in connection with acquisition of any control, shares, voting rights, etc., exceeds Rs 2,000 crore, it would require filing a notice of combination before the commission and to empower the Central Government to exempt certain transactions from the requirement to file combination notice under the Act," the amendment bill read.
It also proposed to reduce the timeline for the commission to pass an order on such transactions from 210 days to 150 days.
Also, it sought to broaden the scope of anti-competitive agreements.
Reportedly, the bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in August 2022, during the Monsoon Session of the Parliament, and subsequently, it was referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance for examination.
