Analysis of the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2023

The Monopiles and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969(MRTP Act,1969) was the predecessor of The Competition Act, 2000. The MRTP Act,1969 was repealed, as, it couldn’t meet the objectives for which it was made. The Competition Act,2000 got the presidential assent on 13 January 2003. The act was implemented, with the objective, of preventing anti-competitive practices in the market. The Act, 2002 has been amended many times, i.e., in 2007, when the Competition Appellate tribunal (COMPAT) was made the appellate tribunal, in 2009 when Unfair Trade Practices (UTPs) cases pending before National Consumers Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) were transferred to Competition Appellate Tribunal ( COMPAT) ,and, in 2017 when COMPAT was replaced with National Company law Appellate Authority (NCLAT) as Appellate Tribunal. The recent amendment introduced in The Competition Act, 2002 is in 2023. Many significant amendments have been brought in the Act , to meet the dynamic market structure. Many changes, like the changes in deal value threshold, reduction of the days for the approval of combinations, Hubs and spoke cartel etc. have been introduced. The amendment has been made to provide for consumer welfare and promote fair competition in the market. The changes in the primary law on competition has curbed various anti-competitive practices and monopolistic tendencies.