New law finally supplants old regime

The archaic Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Act, 1969, and the MRTP Commission are set to be phased out over the next two years. Under a notification dated 28 August, section 66 of the Competition Act, 2002, has finally been brought into force. The Competition Act will now replace the MRTP Act.

Until the notification of this section there was some uncertainty over which law would regulate anti-competitive practices, given that certain provisions of the MRTP Act and the Competition Act overlapped. Section 66 resolves this issue by providing that the MRTP Act will now stand repealed and that a two-year period for the dissolution of the MRTP Commission begins on 1 September.

The two-year period is for the MRTP Commission to deal with pending cases (which were filed before the commencement of the Competition Act) under the MRTP Act – the only purpose for which this act will continue to have validity. Upon the expiry of the two-year period the MRTP Commission will be dissolved and all cases pending before it will be transferred to either the Competition Appellate Tribunal or the National Commission constituted under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, depending on the nature of the individual case.

The legislative and regulatory update is compiled by Nishith Desai Associates, a Mumbai-based law firm. The authors can be contacted at nishith@nishithdesai.com. Readers should not act on the basis of this information without seeking professional legal advice.