- The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has released a draft of revised lesser penalty
regulations that provides for introduction of a “leniency plus” programme - Leniency plus’ norms is a new cartel detecting tool and sheds light on how the
competition watchdog intends to operationalize it. - The “Leniency Plus” regime was part of the Competition (Amendment) Act 2023
- Leniency Plus is a proactive antitrust enforcement strategy aimed at attracting leniency
applications by encouraging companies already under investigation for one cartel to
report other cartels unknown to the competition regulator. - The benefit that would entail such disclosure is a reduction of penalty in the first cartel
to the person disclosing the information, without prejudice to the company obtaining
lesser penalty regarding the newly disclosed cartel. - This “leniency plus” regime is already recognised in jurisdictions like the UK, US,
Singapore, and Brazil.
Competition Commission of India - It is a statutory body of the Government of India, was established in March 2009 under
the Competition Act, 2002. - The goal of CCI is to create and sustain fair competition in the economy that will provide
a ‘level playing field’ to the producers and make the markets work for the welfare of
consumers. - The priority of the Commission Is to eliminate practices having adverse effects on
competition, promote and sustain competition, protect the interests of consumers, and
ensure freedom of trade in the markets of India.
