The Hindu Business Line : Ordinance brings early end to MRTPC

New Delhi, Oct. 30 The antimonopoly watchdog, the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC), has gone with a whimper after four decades.

Its quiet end came on October 14, 2009 with the President of India promulgating the Competition (Amendment) Ordinance, 2009 amending Section 66 of the Competition Act 2002 that deals with the repeal of the MRTP Act and the winding-up of the MRTPC.

This is a departure from the Government’s earlier stance that MRTPC would be wound up only after a two-year period starting from September 1, 2009 when Section 66 of the Competition Act was notified. In effect, this timeline of September 2011 has been advanced now.

From October 14, all cases pertaining to monopolistic trade practices or restrictive trade practices pending before MRTPC commission will be transferred to Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT). Similarly those cases pertaining to unfair trade practices will be moved to National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission under the Consumer Protection Act. Though the pending monopolies and restrictive cases are to be heard by the CAT, it will be decided as per the MRTPC Act and not the Competition Act.

According to Ms Vinati Kastia, co-heading the competition law practice of AZB & Partners in Delhi, the duration and validity of such Ordinances depend on the re-assembly of Parliament. “The Ordinance will cease to operate either at the expiry of six weeks from the re-assembly of Parliament, or before expiry of this period if both houses of Parliament have rejected the Ordinance. Therefore, the life of the Ordinance would not extent beyond the six week period from the date of re-assembly of Parliament,” she said.

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