WHAT HAS HAPPENED?
WHAT IS AN INTERLOCUTORY APPLICATION?
As per the Amendment an IA means, “an application filed before the Commission in a case instituted under section 19 of the Act, except those filed in compliance of any order or direction of the Commission.”
Some examples of IAs are:
The changes do not apply to any application or request filed in the context of merger control.
The Amendment does not apply to IAs filed before the Director General (DG) during an investigation.
In a development from the draft version, the Amendment clarifies that any application filed in compliance with CCI’s order will not be considered as “interlocutory”.
WHAT DOES THE AMENDEMENT CHANGE?
Each IA must be accompanied with a filing fee which varies depending on the applicant. An individual or a Hindu Undivided Family would have to pay INR 500. NGOs, Consumer Associations, Co-operative Societies, Trust, a firm/company with a turnover up to INR 2 crore in the preceding year would pay INR 1000. In all other cases, the filing fee would be INR 5000.
Additionally, the following procedure would have to be followed prior to an IA being placed before the CCI for its consideration:
The Amendment Regulations published in the Official Gazette are available here. For details on the draft Amendment Regulations, kindly refer to our LinkedIn alert available here.
In case of feedback, suggestions, or queries, please reach out to the C&M team on competitionlaw@chandhiok.com
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