No. PR- 243
March 4, 2021
New Delhi
“Green Channel approach of CCI is a trust based system and CCI is a friend of MSME” said by Dr Sanjay Kumar Pandey, Advisor (Law) & Head – Advocacy Divison, Competition Commission of India
The Corporate Affairs Committee of PHDCCI organized Webinar on Competition Law – Recent Developments and Impacts.
Dr Sanjay Kumar Pandey, Advisor (Law) & Head – Advocacy Divison, Competition Commission of India was the Key Note Speaker at the Webinar.
The webinar was graced with the presence of Mr Pradeep Multani, Sr Vice President, PHDCCI, Mr Naveen ND Gupta, Chair, Corporate Affairs Committee & Mr P K Rustagi; Mr Aseem Chawla; Mrs Ranjana Aggarwal, Co Chair, Corporate Affairs Committee, PHDCCI.
The other eminent panelists present were Mr Dhanendra Kumar (IAS), Founder Chairman, Competition Advisory Services (I) LLP & Former Chairman, CCI; Mr Vivek Agarwal, Partner, Competition Law, DMD Advocates; Mr M M Sharma, Head-Competition Law & Policy Practice, Vaish Associates Advocates and Ms Aditi Gopalakrishnan, Partner, AZB & Partners.
Dr Sanjay Kumar Pandey in his key note address highlighted that since the objective of a competition authority is to promote and ensure competition, it benefits all market players, consumers and the economy. It is known from more than 130 competition authorities in the world that more competitive markets stimulate innovation and generally lead to lower prices for consumers and enhanced investment. CCI advocates for equal participation of all enterprises in a viable competition and always be a friend of MSME to empower them. He highlighted that the Competition Amendment Bill 2020 has path breaking reform to statutorily recognize the Green Channel Process to enable fast-paced regulatory approvals for vast majority of mergers and acquisition that may have no major concerns regarding appreciable adverse effects on competition. Further, the bill will also expand the scope of the Competition Act to include the digital markets through inclusion of hub & spoke arrangement and buyer’s cartel.
While giving his address, Mr Pradeep Multani mentioned that the anti-trust regime in India is relatively young and hence most trade associations and MSMEs are unaware that the legacy practices which had become a way of business for them are illegal. Going forward, the developing jurisprudence, coupled with the CCI’s increased focus on outreach programmes will surely help to change attitudes of corporates. In view of this, PHDCCI is ready to partner with CCI for promoting and ensuring compliances.
Mr Dhanendra Kumar shared his special insights on Efficacy of Competition Law in the Digital Economy. He highlighted that e-commerce, home delivery of goods & various services, tele-consultation in healthcare sector etc helped in big way during pandemic. He shared that the digital economy has made relevant changes in the product and geographical markets. He suggested that there is need to upgrade the regulations in Competition Act to accommodate the new normal and sections of the Act which will be adhered in letter and spirit.
Mr Naveen N D Gupta in his Chair’s Remarks mentioned that the outburst of COVID-19 pandemic has immensely impacted businesses across the globe. Industries dealing with non-essential goods and products have been facing huge losses, leading to the shutdown of their operations. On the other hand, this pandemic has also created many opportunities for sectors dealing in essential commodities like healthcare, pharma, telecom, FMCG and retail.
Mr P K Rustagi in his theme address highlighted that maximization of consumer welfare should be at the center of both competition policy and law. He suggested to rationalize the penalties being imposed by CCI and also to provide cooling period, if there is no cartel in the investigation. While talking about leniency norms of CCI, he suggested that there are numerous concerns that need to be delved into meticulously. He also talked about the dawn raids being conducted by CCI to probe into major antitrust or competition law violations.
Mr Vivek Aggarwal gave the presentation on Benefits and Risks of Competition Law for MSMEs. While covering the risk areas, he talked about bid rigging; trade associations & joint commercial decisions and restrictions imposed on dealers especially for retail price.
Mr M M Sharma talked about the data privacy and competition covering whether sharing of personal data by WhatsApp and Facebook etc is a competition law issue or not.
Ms Aditi Gopalakrishnan gave the presentation on Competition Law Enforcement: trends and Compliance. She talked about the Horizontal & Vertical Agreements along with the key cases of Abuse of Dominance in the market.
Mr Aseem Chawla while summing up the session mentioned that competition provides benefits to the economy, improves resource allocation and efficiency and increases the ability to compete internationally. Mrs Ranjana Aggarwal delivered vote of thanks to the speakers, sponsor and delegates for making the webinar a great success.
Mr. Vivek Seigell, Assistant Secretary General, PHDCCI moderated the webinar which was well attended by around 150 delegates.
Ends
Media Division
PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry