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)
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Understanding “Leniency Plus”
- 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 foundation
- 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.
