Central Idea

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has unveiled a draft of revised lesser penalty regulations, introducing a groundbreaking “Leniency Plus” Norms and shedding light on its strategy for combating cartels.

About Competition Commission of India (CCI)

The CCI is the chief national competition regulator in India.
It is a statutory body within the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
It is responsible for enforcing The Competition Act, 2002 in order to promote competition and prevent activities that have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India.

Existing Leniency Program: Under the current Competition Act 2002, a leniency program allows companies to receive partial immunity from penalties if they provide substantial information about their involvement in a cartel. This aids competition authorities in uncovering secret cartels and obtaining insider evidence.
Additional Reduction in Penalty: In the “Leniency Plus” framework, a cartel member cooperating with CCI for leniency can disclose the existence of another unrelated cartel during the original leniency proceedings. In return, they receive an additional reduction in penalties.
Incentivizing Disclosure: “Leniency Plus” serves as a proactive antitrust enforcement strategy, encouraging companies already under investigation for one cartel to report other undisclosed cartels, thus promoting transparency.

Legal basis: The “Leniency Plus” regime was incorporated into the Competition (Amendment) Act 2023, which received Presidential approval in April of the same year.
Global Adoption: The concept of “Leniency Plus” is not new, as it is already recognized and practised in jurisdictions like the UK, US, Singapore, and Brazil.
Encouraging Disclosure: One of the key aspects of these regulations is their encouragement for companies already under investigation for one cartel to report other undisclosed cartels to the competition regulator.