A look at the CCI’s process for pre-filing consultation

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) announced in late March that it would expand the scope of pre-filing consultation to include substantive issues regarding filing of notice with the CCI, in addition to the existing consultation facility on procedural aspects. The pre-filing consultation would continue to be informal and verbal and the consultations offered would not be deemed to be the opinion of or binding in any manner on the CCI.

The CCI has published some material in relation to the expanded consultation process on its website, however in essence it only provides the manner in which an appointment is to be set up and with the caveat that advice provided is not binding on the CCI.

The material mentions that the facility has been introduced in consistence with international best practices. However, compared to the amount of information available in relation to the consultation facility of jurisdictions with more mature and evolved antitrust regimes, the material on the process and the nature of responses that can be expected is not sufficient.

Amit Tambe is a partner at Trilegal and Kunal Chandra is a counsel. Trilegal is a full-service law firm with offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.