January 7, 2016
– Taking forward its efforts to ensure healthy competition in the market place, fair trade regulator CCI has set up a panel of seven institutions to carry out an initial competition assessment of economic legislations.
The panel, which includes IIM Ahmedabad and National Law University, Delhi, will carry out the initial competition assessment of the legislations. In September, 2015, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) came out with guidelines for competition assessment of economic legislations and bills.
With the guidelines, CCI is looking to facilitate an “objective and transparent assessment of select economic legislations enacted by Parliament or state legislatures and also the economic bills pending or coming up before them in near future from competition perspective”.
In case the assessment finds issues related to competition in a particular legislation, then CCI will suggest necessary modifications to the relevant stakeholders. As per the guidelines, which became effective from January 1, a legislation will be sent to the panel for initial competition assessment.
The panel is required to submit its assessment report on a particular legislation within 15 days of receiving the same. The institutions empanelled by the commission also include National Law Institute University, Bhopal, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, Delhi, CUTS International, Jaipur, Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow and Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai.
“Based on evaluation of the samples of competition assessment submitted by institutions, the commission has empanelled the institutions,” CCI said in a statement.
The assessment of legislations will look at aspects that could cause appreciable adverse effect on competition in the relevant market in India. It will also be assessed whether any provision in the legislation could restrict the freedom of players in the market and choices of consumers or is in disharmony with the objectives of Competition Act. The commission will decide on the legislations that need to be taken up for assessment.
Many jurisdictions, including Australia, have programmes to evaluate existing and upcoming economic legislations from the perspective of competition.
(PTI)