Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2022, amid ruckus in the House with opposition MPs continuing their protest over the Adani issue.

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Amid the loud sloganeering by Opposition members, the Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was taken up for consideration and was passed without a debate.

By establishing a deal value barrier for necessary approvals by the Competition Commission of India, the Bill seeks to increase regulation for corporations, notably Big Tech companies (CCI). Cartels will be able to use the CCI's settlement process thanks to the modifications.

The Competition (Amendment) Bill 2022 was first introduced in Lok Sabha on August 5 of last year and was subsequently submitted to the Jayant Sinha-led Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance for review and a report.

Also Read: Global turnover in competition amendment bill will have implications: Former CCI chairman

In December 2022, the House panel delivered its Report, which contained numerous suggestions for amending the Bill. Nonetheless, the Center disregarded the majority of the suggestions.

The Centre's plan effectively aims to overturn a Supreme Court decision that limited the CCI's ability to impose fines by maintaining that the only turnover that may be used to determine penalties is relevant turnover, or income from infringing goods or services.

The plan is expected to cause major problems for multinational corporations that operate across numerous worldwide countries. Experts believe that the same is also increasing CCI's ability to deter future antitrust law breakers.

The proposal put out by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) to move official revisions in light of several recommendations made by the House Panel had been approved by the Union Cabinet on January 24.

The government also said on Tuesday that the Competition Commission is conducting inquiries against Amazon, Flipkart, Zomato, Swiggy, BookMyShow, Apple, WhatsApp, Facebook (Meta) and Google for alleged anti-competitive practices.

Also Read: Parliamentary panel suggests changes to competition law amendment bill