CCI HOLDS ROUND-TABLE MEETING WITH TOP CORPORATES, EMPHASISES
COMPETITION COMPLIANCE FOR GOOD CORPORATE GOVERNANCE CCI Holds
Round-Table Meeting With Top Corporates, Emphasises Competition
Compliance for Good Corporate Governance Competition Commission of India
today held a round-table meeting with top companies of the country on
the subject of "Competition Compliance for Good Corporate Governance".
Representatives of
trade associations/industry associations such as
ASSOCHAM, FICCI, CII and PHDCCI also attended the meeting. Addressing
the representatives of the companies, Mr. Sachin Pilot, Minister of
State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Corporate Affairs, stressed that
the foremost objective of Competition Commission of India is to ensure
protection of consumers. Underlying the importance of healthy
competition, the Minister said that a fair Regulatory environment would
help the Indian economy in moving up higher in the global business
index. Mr. Sachin Pilot advised CCI that it should keep an eye on
situations that appear to be anti-competitive such as rising profit
margins inspite of reducing production levels. He emphasized that Govt.
believes in consultation before taking a decision. The amendments to the
Competition Act have already been sent to the Standing Committee of the
Parliament and he was hopeful that after seeking views/ suggestions,
the amendments to the Competition Act would be given a legislative
sanction. During the round-table discussion, number of suggestions/
views were put up by the corporates as well as industry associations.
Some companies requested the Govt. to ensure level playing field between
public and private sector. The Minister assured that no reverse
discrimination for govt. companies would be normally allowed though he
was of the view that the social objectives of the public sector was also
to be kept in mind while deciding a level playing field. Interacting
with the corporate during the round-table discussion, Mr. Ashok Chawla,
Chairman, CCI, informed that since its inception, orders have been
issued in more than 230 cases out of the 320 cases investigated by CCI.
Mr. Chawla sought to nullify any suggestions of any tilt towards govt
sector in matters concerning Competition Act and informed that CCI has
issued orders in 21 cases where govt. enterprises were a party.
Chairman, CCI suggested the corporates to set up a high level
Competition Compliance Committee in their respective organizations to
review competition compliance. He also informed that SEBI would be
requested to include competition compliance under Section 49 of Listing
Agreements. Representatives of trade associations gave wide gamut of
suggestions such as widening of advocacy efforts of CCI, listing the
dominant players in each sector, incentives to companies with better
competition compliance record etc. CCI assured that the suggestions made
in the Round Table meeting would be kept in mind. The round-table
meeting held today by CCI with the corporates was part of advocacy
initiatives of Competition Commission of India. Top 100 Indian companies
based on the market capitalization were invited for the meeting. -
www.pib.nic.in