The Lok Sabha on Monday passed a Bill to transfer to the Competition Appellate Tribunal all pending cases lying before the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) under the Consumer Protection Act, as the commission will soon become ?non-functional?.
Salman Khurshid, minister of corporate affairs said that the tribunal would take up 1,186 pending cases to enable protecting the rights of consumers and ensuring competition in the market.
Khurshid said, ?The purpose of the Bill is not only to prohibit and curtail unfair trade practices, but also to restrict and regulate the market.?
Stating that the competition policy in India was still in its infancy, the minister admitted there was ?a great deal to do? in terms of equity and justice.
?We have to learn from the experience of the US on its anti-trust legislation. We have also looked at Europe, South East Asia and Australia on their laws in this regard,? he said.
The Bill will enable transferring all cases and investigations relating to unfair trade practices to the Appellate Tribunal.
The ordinance was brought on October 14 as the commission had to become ?non functional? as Competition Commission of India was entrusted with similar but enhanced task, the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill said.
Khurshid said that the government would provide the tribunal with all manpower on a temporary basis till the time it was able to fill up posts and take up investigations on its own. He said the tribunal would mainly look into cases of ?abuse of dominant position? through ?cartelism and bid rigging?. The danger of cartelism, he said, existed in rural areas too in government schemes such as National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) where supply of material and services took place.
On the issue of mergers and acquisitions mentioned, he said the government would take up the matter soon. About appointing retired bureaucrats as members of the tribunal, Khurshid said at present, only bureaucrats had the qualifications prescribed under which 15-year experience was required for the Competition Commission of India and 25-year experience for the Appellate Tribunal.
