The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is proposing amendments to its 2011 regulations for the recovery of monetary penalties imposed under the Competition Act, 2002. These amendments aim to streamline the recovery process, based on the CCI’s experience over the years. The CCI has previously amended these regulations twice, in 2014 and 2021. The new draft regulations are open for stakeholder comments from November 7 to December 6, 2024. The regulations outline the roles of various parties, including the Commission, recovery officers, and enterprises, and provide clear definitions of terms such as “penalty,” “enterprise in default,” and “demand notice.” The amendments also define procedures for issuing recovery certificates and maintaining penalty recovery registers. Stakeholders are encouraged to submit written feedback via a form on the CCI’s website.
****
BACKGROUND NOTE: DRAFT AMENDMENTS TO THE COMPETITION COMMISSION OF INDIA (MANNER OF RECOVERY OF MONETARY PENALTY) REGULATIONS, 2011
1. The Competition Act, 2002 (the ‘Act’) contains various provisions Section 27 and Chapter VI, empowering the Commission to impose upon enterprises and persons, monetary penalties, for indulging into conduct(s) mentioned therein.
2. Section 39 of the Act provides for execution of such orders of the Commission imposing monetary penalties. Under sub-section (1) of the same, the Commission shall recover the penalty(ies) imposed, in such manner, “as may be specified by the regulations”.
3. For implementation of sub-section (1) of Section 39 of the Act, the Commission, in exercise of the powers conferred upon it under Section 64 of the Act, had framed the Competition Commission of India (Manner of Recovery of Monetary Penalty) Regulations, 2011 (‘Recovery Regulations’), which came into effect from 08.02.2011. The same have undergone minor amendments twice till date, once vide Amendment Regulations, 2014 e.f. 25.06.2014, and other vide Amendment Regulations, 2021 w.e.f. 16.02.2021.
4. Based on the experience gained during implementation of these regulations over the years and to streamline the process of recovery, certain amendments are deemed fit to be incorporated in the said Regulations. Accordingly, such amendments are being proposed to the Competition Commission of India (Manner of Recovery of Monetary Penalty) Regulations, 2011.
5. The CCI invites stakeholders to submit written comments on the draft amendments within 30 (thirty) days from 07.11.2024 to 06.12.2024. The comments must be sent by duly filling up the form hosted on the CCI’s website at: https://www.cci.gov.in/stakeholders-topics-consultations.
DRAFT AMENDMENTS TO THE COMPETITION COMMISSION OF INDIA (MANNER OF RECOVERY OF MONETARY PENALTY) REGULATIONS, 2011
1. Short title and commencement.
(1) These regulations may be called the Competition Commission of India (Manner of Recovery of Monetary Penalty) Regulations, 2011.
(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
2. Definitions.
(1) In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires,–
(a) “Act” means the Competition Act, 2002 (12 of 2003);
(b) “Commission” means the Competition Commission of India established under sub-section (1) of section 7 of the Act;
(c) “demand notice” means a notice issued by the Commission to an enterprise from whom any penalty is recoverable under the Act;
(d) “enterprise” means enterprise as defined in clause (h) of section 2 of the Act;
(e) “enterprise in default” means an enterprise which has not paid the penalty imposed on it within the stipulated time despite the demand notice duly served upon;
(f) “Income-tax authority” means an authority as defined in section 116 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961);
(fa) “legal heir” means a legal representative as defined in sub-section (11) to section 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908;
(g) “penalty” means a monetary penalty or fine or any other sum imposed by the Commission and realisable under the Act;
(h) “penalty recovery register” means the register as set out in Form IV appended to these regulations containing all the details of the penalties imposed by the Commission;
(ha) “person” means a person as defined in clause (l) of section 2 of the Act;
(hb) “person in default” means a person who has not paid the penalty imposed upon it within the stipulated time despite the demand notice duly served upon;
(i) “recovery certificate” means a certificate issued by the Commission and to be executed by the recovery officer in terms of the Commission’s orders;
(j) “recovery officer” means an officer authorised by the Commission to recover the penalty from an the enterprise or person or the ‘enterprise in default’ or ‘person in default’, as the case may be, as defined under these regulations;
(k) “Secretary” means the Secretary appointed under sub-section (1) of section 17 of the Act and includes an officer of the Commission authorised by it to function as Secretary;
(l) “Tax Recovery Officer” means the Tax Recovery Officer as referred to in Explanation 2 to section 39 of the Act and defined in clause (44) of section 2 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961).;
(2) Words and expressions used but not defined in these regulations shall have the same meanings respectively assigned to them in the Act or in the Companies Act, 20131956 (18 of 20131956) or in the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), as the case may be.
