Competition Commission of India (CCI) is now fully functional with five out of six members and the chairman joining the team, said its Member, P.N.Parashar on Tuesday.
Delivering the inaugural address at a seminar on Competition Law organised by Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Fox Mandal Little, Solicitors and Advocates, he said, the Commission Appellate Tribunal has also been established and it is headed by Arijit Pasayat, retired Judge of the Supreme Court.
Mentioning that he was in the city to create awareness among public about Competition Law, he said CCI would be responsible for investigating/regulating mergers, prohibiting/regulating anti-competitive agreements, preventing abuse of dominant position by enterprise or groups, which are market players in the Indian economy.
Section 3 (prohibition of anti-competitive agreements) and Section 4 (prevention of abuse of dominant position) of the Competition Act 2002 have been notified, while Section 5 & 6 (regulate combinations) are expected to be notified soon.
Elaborating on the powers and functions of CCI, he said it was meant to protect the interests of consumers, ensure freedom of trade carried on by other participants in markets in India, eliminate practices having adverse effect on competition, promote and sustain competition, undertake competition advocacy, create public awareness and impart training on competition issues.
To enable people to file complaints, CCI has reduced the fee to Rs.5,000 for individuals, HUF, NGOs, co-operative society, consumer associations and trusts; Rs.20,000 for firm that posted turnover of up to Rs.1 crore in the preceding year; and Rs.50,000 for others.
“We also take interns for one to three months and pay Rs.5,000 as monthly stipend. Currently, we have two experts working for us. We will hire more experts depending upon the need. The awareness campaign will be conducted in Bangalore, Maharashtra and in Andhra Pradesh,” he added.
