ABSTRACT:
In This article, the author will discuss the recent amendments in the competition law regimes and its implications on competition in the era of globalization. In order to explain all major reforms such as The Role of regulator and transaction fee will increase due to Amendments in provisions of combinations and the monetary implications of non-price consideration in mergers and acquisitions in the competition law. The author further discuss increasing the turnover 20 % from 10% with the aim of more effective enforcement of legislative law on Competition. It also introduces the commitments and settlements mechanism for proceedings which were adopted by the CCI. The Act
also provided the director general for which will be appointed by the CCI with prior approval of the central government. Overall the legislative intent behind the Act is balancing competition, innovation and concentration with the aim to provide regulatory certainty, ensure faster market correction and a trust-based business-friendly environment. And in the last part of the article, the author also mentions
future implications and challenges of the amendment act’s provisions with suggesting a balanced approach on competition law reforms.
KEYS WORDS: Combination, Competitions, M&A, Settlement and Commitment.

INTRODUCTION:
Recently, The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, via a notification dated September9, 2024 has enforced several provisions of the Amendment Act which will be effective from September 10, 2024. This Act was published by the ministry of corporate affairs in the gazette of India on 11th April 2023. This bill takes the place of the previous law called ‘The Competition Act, 2002’. The Act will bring prominent changes to the competition law regimes like definition in the word ‘Combination’, broader the scope of Anti-competitive agreements, reduction of time limit of M&A, Leniency Plus, Settlement & Commitment framework, limitation period for filing information, Hub-and-Spoke including Issuance of Guidelines.

SALIENT FEATURES OF THE AMENDMENT ACT:

Combination will be regulated on the basis of the transaction value:
The competition (Amendments) Act, 2023 prohibits any persons or entities to enter in which may cause an adverse effect on competition. The word ‘Combination’ means merger, acquisitions and amalgamation of the enterprise. This condition will be applied where parties have transactions of more than 1000 crores of cumulative assets, second cumulative turnover of more than 3000 crores. According to the new act provisions the combination will apply on the values of more than 2000 crores.
● Limited time for combination’s Approval:
The competition (Amendments) Act, 2023 required to pass order by the competition commission of India for approval of combinations within 150 days which reduces from 210 days.
● The definition for ‘ Classification of combinations’:
In this Act, there are provisions regarding definition of control for classification of combinations. The act defines for the control over the affairs or management by one or more enterprises over another enterprise. The act also included the ability to exercise material influence over the management, affairs or strategic commercial decisions. The competition commission of India issues new notifications regarding regulations of combinations which provide detailed procedural guidelines for the classification, notification, and regulation of Combinations under the new Amendment Act.
● Change the nature of punishment for certain offences:
The act will discriminate with certain offences because new law comes with reforms in the nature of different types of punishment such as fine to penalty. It will be applied on including failure to comply with orders of the competition commission of India and failing to not comply with directions of the director general regarding anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominant positions.
● Introduction of Settlement and Commitment Mechanism:
The Amendment Act introduces a Settlement and Commitment framework which aims to reduce litigation. The Settlement mechanism would apply to alleged contravention related to anti- competitive agreements, abuse of dominant. It will be filed in case of after receipt of investigation report but prior to such time as may be prescribed by Regulations, before the passing of final order of CCI. The CCI imposes certain conditions which may include settlement amounts. And second provision. The Commitment framework enables parties to offer commitment for certain types of Anti- competitive agreements and dominant cases. Its Application will be submitted in case after inquiry initiated by CCI but within a time period and prior to receipt of the investigation report.
● Broad the scope of Anti-competitive agreements:
According to section 3 of the Amendment Act which broadens the scope of the competition act that deals with anti-competitive agreements and it provides for ‘any other’ types of the agreement which are captured within the ambit of the anti-competitive agreements.
● Introduction of Deal Value as another criterion for notifying M&A:
The Amendments act provides the criteria of assets and turnover by introducing “deal value threshold” for determining notifiability, value of any transaction in the connection with acquisitions of any control, share, voting rights or assets of an enterprise, merger or amalgamation which exceeds INR 2000 crores. According to the provisions of the regulation the parties must provide prior written notice to the CCI before proceeding with a transaction.
● Limitation Period of 3 years for filing Information:
The Act has introduced a limitation period for the filing information reference for anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominant positions will be able to be filed within the 3 years. Legislative intent behind the limitation period for filing information would provide certainty regarding businesses and be able to facilitate ease of doing business.
● Hub and Spoke cartels:
Inclusion of the Hub and spoke provisions will help to facilitate coordination related to price, market or customer allocation, production, distribution and any form of bid rigging among competitive entities which operate different levels of supply chain. After the amendments, according to section 3(3) of the act CCI can scrutinise the role of a non- competing entity as a cartel participant if it participates or intends to participate in furtherance of a cartel. This Act effectively dilutes the standard of evidence which is required to attribute liability to the hub as a cartel participant under anti- competitive Hubs and cartel arrangement. The Hubs and spokes type arrangement brought under the presumption of appreciable adverse effect on Competition.
● The Regulations:
According to the Amendment Act, ‘all forms of valuable consideration must be taken into account when assessing the transaction value including any form of payment or benefit, whether direct or indirect, immediate or deferred, in cash or otherwise’. The introduced deal value threshold applies only to transactions involving target enterprises that have “substantial business operations” in India. It outlines the  detailed procedures for scrutiny of the notice, the consequences of failing to submit the required notice, and other related aspects of the combination approval process.  Another major change in the Act is appointment of the Director general which is appointed by the competition commission of India after prior approval of the central government including Leniency Plus, Framing of Regulations after public consultations, Issuance of Guidelines and many others.
IMPLICATIONS:
The entire aim of the amendment act is to preserve fair competition and minimise anti-competitive practices. In order to achieve the vision of the legislative act, The M&A must be scrutinised more closely. For The CCI, the act has set a shorter deadline to examine deals which have bad consequences because a short review period could result in hasty decisions and omission of important competitive factors. And on the other side The shareholders will face financial burden as a result of the imposition of harsher fines based on worldwide turnover, which may have an impact on their operations and profitability.  The act intended on stiffer penalties in case of Anti-competitive practices will discourages from engaging and fine will have Disproportionate Impact on companies especially with the small and medium-sized enterprises. Due to provisions of fine which led to stifle competition and prevent the development of innovative products or company plans.
CHALLENGES:
In this amendment act, some of the provisions will negative impact i.e challenge such as Director general’s power incompatible with provisions of IEC, Doubts on appropriateness of appeal deposit provisions, This Act is not address the issues of consideration of IPR in case of dominant positions and another Issues on Regulations of combinations. The close inspection also highlights practical hurdles in its implementation, including the efficacy of DVT and which increases administrative burden on the CCI.
SUGGESTIONS:
In my point of view, I would like to suggest refinements for a nuanced combination framework that is imperative to capture the needs of the Indian market and accommodate international antitrust measures to satisfy the legislative objectives that would promote fair competition and ease of doing business. The definition for a few provisions should be more flexible. Before the implementation of the act, relevant authorities must take public inputs for more effectiveness. The government and CCI must adopt a procedure which aligns with the international legislation on the competition law. This Act must include the provisions regarding addressing the issues raised by the dominance of data including the E-Commerce era.
CONCLUSION:
The Competition (Amendments) Act, 2023 granting competition commission of India more autonomy for regulating anti-competitive practices. With the help of significant changes in competition Laws will help India to undergo on the path of fair and free from anti-competitive practices in domestic and international market. Still a few provisions have not been covered in the amendment act which may impact it further in order to save it from anti-competitive practices. But, several provisions are noteworthy achievements of the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2023.

This article is authored by Vikash Kumar, who was among Top 40 performers in the Contract Drafting Quiz competition organized by Lets Learn Law.