CCI seeks comments on new regulations to determine turnover of enterprises

In a significant move, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has proposed new regulations to determine the turnover of enterprises. The proposed regulations come in response to the Competition (Amendment) Act 2023, which mandates that penalties should be calculated on a global turnover basis. The regulations will specify how turnover should be determined.

The CCI has opened the window for stakeholders to submit their comments on the turnover regulations. The stakeholders have until January 12 of next year to submit their comments. The proposed regulations exclude indirect taxes, intra-group sales, and discounts from the computation of turnover.

In April 2023, the President of India approved the Competition Amendment Bill, 2023, which brought in a series of changes to competition law for the first time since 2009. The new regulations are part of these changes.

Earlier this year, the Government introduced the concept of 'global turnover' for penalty imposition to nullify a Supreme Court ruling that restricted the powers of the CCI in levying penalties. The Supreme Court had held that turnover for calculating penalties could only be taken as relevant turnover, which includes revenues earned from infringing goods or services.