Govt contemplates idea of bringing all sectors under CCI ambit

The corporate affairs ministry is contemplating the idea of bringing all sectors of the economy under realm of the Competition Commission of India (CCI), according to a ministry note prepared for a group of ministers. Quelling concerns that the move would lead to encroachment on the jurisdiction of sectoral regulators, Veerappa Moily, Corporate Affairs Minister explained that there was no question of encroachment as the CCI would compliment sectoral regulators by fostering competition and protecting the markets from anti competitive practices.

However, Department of Telecommunication and Department of Finance which already have their own regulators viz. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) respectively remain opposed to the development citing that there would be regulatory overlap with other sectoral regulators and TRAI and RBI are capable enough to deal with issues such as cartelization and unfair trade practices. However, Moily elucidated that the job of a sectoral regulator is to facilitate conditions that are conducive to competition and the CCI is to regulate and ensure that there is a healthy competition in the market.

Meanwhile, merger and acquisitions in the banking sector are likely to be exempted from the watchdog CCI’s scrutiny under the Banking Law Amendment Act which the Cabinet recently approved. The Competition (Amendment) Bill has also been referred to a Group of Ministers for consideration. After detailed deliberations, the Draft National Competition Policy, which envisages the Cabinet Committee on Competition to provide necessary directions and guidelines to various Ministries and Departments on steps to be taken to engender the ‘Competition Culture’ is ready and necessary steps are being taken for submission of the note to cabinet.