Rescission of Notification under the Competition Act: earlier Gazette notification withdrawn, savings for prior actions preserved.
Central Government, invoking clause (a) of section 54 of the Competition Act, 2002, rescinds S.O. 674(E), dated the 4th March, 2016, published in the Gazette of India, subject to a savings clause preserving acts done or omissions prior to the rescission.

Merger exemption for small combinations where notified asset and turnover thresholds keep transactions outside merger control.
The Central Government exempts specified acquisitions, control acquisitions and mergers involving enterprises in production, distribution or trading of similar or substitutable goods or services from the Competition Act combination provisions for a limited five year period where asset value or turnover do not exceed the notified India thresholds. For transfers of a portion, division or business, asset value is the preceding year's audited book value reduced by depreciation and including specified intangibles; turnover must be certified by the statutory auditor from the last audited accounts.

Vessels sharing agreements exempted from competition prohibition for a limited period, subject to conditions and monitoring.
The Central Government temporarily exempts Vessels Sharing Agreements in the liner shipping sector from the prohibition on anti-competitive agreements for three months from 21 March 2017, provided such agreements do not include concerted practices fixing prices, limiting capacity or sales, or allocating markets or customers. During this period, monitored filings of existing or newly executed agreements and related documents must be submitted within thirty days of publication or ten days of signing, whichever is later.

Appointment of Tribunal Member: Ms Anita Kapur appointed under Competition Act with tenure until age sixty-five.
The Central Government, under section 53C read with section 53F of the Competition Act, 2002, appoints Ms. Anita Kapur as Member of the Competition Appellate Tribunal effective from the afternoon of 10th May, 2016; the appointment is until she attains the age of 65 years or until further orders, and her service terms are governed by the Competition Appellate Tribunal Rules, 2009.

Adjustment of asset and turnover thresholds via wholesale price index increases values for application of section 5 merger provisions.
Central Government, in consultation with the Competition Commission of India and under sub-section (3) of Section 20 of the Competition Act, 2002, enhances the value of assets and value of turnover on the basis of the Wholesale Price Index for the purposes of Section 5 of the Act, effective from the date of publication of the notification in the Official Gazette.

Combination exemption for small target enterprises, temporarily relieving certain acquisitions from merger provisions under notification.
Notification exempts enterprises being acquired from section 5 of the Competition Act, 2002 where the target has either assets up to rupees three hundred and fifty crores in India or turnover up to rupees one thousand crores in India; the exemption covers acquisitions of control, shares, voting rights or assets and was granted for five years from publication, and was later rescinded by a subsequent statutory order.

Exemption for groups with minority voting control from Section 5 obligations, temporarily removing combination scrutiny.
The Central Government exempts a Group exercising less than fifty per cent of voting rights in another enterprise from the provisions of section 5 of the Competition Act, 2002, under clause (a) of section 54, effective from publication in the Official Gazette for a period of five years.

Vessels Sharing Agreements exemption permits liner shipping cooperation temporarily, subject to bans on price fixing and required filings.
The Central Government temporarily exempts Vessels Sharing Agreements in the liner shipping industry from section 3 of the Competition Act, subject to prohibitions on price fixing, capacity limitation, and market or customer allocation; the Director General, Shipping will monitor such agreements and operators must file copies and related documents within the notification's specified timeframes.

Appointment of Chairperson under Competition Act: office begins with a fixed tenure and rule governed service conditions.
The Central Government appoints the Chairperson of the Competition Commission of India under section 8(1) read with section 10(1) of the Competition Act, 2002, effective from the specified afternoon of January eleventh, two thousand sixteen for a tenure of five years, subject to earlier cessation on reaching the prescribed age limit or until further orders; terms and conditions are governed by the Competition Commission of India (Salary, Allowances and other Terms and Conditions of Service of Chairperson and other Members) Rules, 2003.

Remuneration and deputation eligibility updated for Private Secretary and stenographer posts, clarifying service requirements under Commission rules.
The amendment revises Schedule I by increasing the grade pay for the Private Secretary post within Pay Band-2 and replacing the previous general deputation/absorption provision with role-specific eligibility: deputation/absorption is limited to officers holding the post of stenographer in government, PSUs, autonomous or regulatory bodies who either hold analogous posts on a regular basis or are stenographers Grade I in Pay Band-2 with the requisite regular service in the grade.

Public announcement deemed 'other document' alters combination filing verification and notice validity procedures under Competition Act regulatory framework.
Regulations amend combination procedure by removing specified verification language and substituting attestation-style declarations in Forms I-III; deeming SEBI takeover public announcements to be the "other document" for notification; substituting "company" for prior board-specific references; deleting inter-dependence language and a prior regulation; clarifying that certain minority acquisitions are treated solely as investment subject to non-participation and non-nomination conditions; and providing that the Commission may hear parties before invalidating a notice and exclude the validity-proceedings period from statutory timelines.

Combination filing procedures updated: verification removed, takeover announcements treated as supporting documents, and hearing rights clarified.
Procedural amendments remove specified verification wording, deem certain securities takeover public announcements as acceptable supporting documents, allow the Commission to hear parties before invalidating a notice and exclude that period from statutory decision timelines, omit one regulation, treat small share acquisitions as investments subject to limits on board participation and control rights, delete a prior gross acquisition cap, and replace form verification blocks with a standard declaration acknowledging truthfulness and awareness of statutory provisions.

Appointment of Tribunal Member: Government appoints Rajeev Kher to the Competition Appellate Tribunal, tenure and service rules apply.
The Central Government, under section 53C read with section 53F of the Competition Act, appointed Shri Rajeev Kher as Member of the Competition Appellate Tribunal effective 28th September, 2015, for a tenure of five years or until he attains age sixty five or until further orders, whichever is earlier. His terms and conditions of service are governed by the Competition Appellate Tribunal (Salaries and Allowances and other terms and conditions of service of Chairperson and other Members) Rules, 2009.

Appointment to Competition Commission membership confirms statutory term limits and age based cessation conditions.
The Central Government appoints Shri Justice G. P. Mittal (Retired) as Member of the Competition Commission of India under the Competition Act, 2002, commencing on assumption of charge and subject to a five year term and an age based cessation at sixty five years, or earlier orders.

Merger filing procedure updated-new Form I, mandatory non-confidential summary and tightened confidentiality affidavit requirements for notifications.
Amendments require parties to notify combinations using Form I or Form II as per Commission notes, replace and expand Form I with detailed information requirements, mandate a non-confidential summary (up to 500 words) for publication, reduce physical copy requirements to one, broaden authorized signatories, tighten confidentiality by requiring an affidavit under the General Regulations, permit the Commission to invalidate invalid notices with a seven-day communication obligation, and convert key timelines to working days while adding a schedule category for purchaser acquisitions under Commission orders.

Remuneration adjustment for experts clarified; incumbents receive equivalent increases and annual increments apply under revised schedule
Amendment adds a proviso to Regulation 6 requiring that when the Commission increases remuneration for categories of experts and professionals by amending Schedule III, the identical amount of increase shall also be applied to existing experts and professionals, including research associates; 'existing remuneration' means the lump sum monthly remuneration received by such incumbents, including increment(s) upon renewal of contract(s), if any, and substitutes Schedule III with a five level remuneration structure providing lump sum monthly pay and annual percentage increases.

Service rules amendment updates deputation and promotion criteria for IT and corporate posts at the Commission.
Amendment revises deputation qualifications for Joint Director (IT), Deputy Director (Information Technology) and Assistant Director (Information Technology), requiring Bachelor's or Master's degrees in Computer Science or Computer Applications and specified years of experience in designated grade pays, and removes Information Technology and Finance and Accounts from promotion eligibility for Deputy Director (Corporate Services); changes take effect on publication in the Official Gazette under clause (g) of sub section (2) of Section 63 of the Competition Act, 2002.

Vessel sharing agreement exemption allows temporary non-application of competition prohibition, subject to monitoring and filing requirements.
Exempts Vessels Sharing Agreements in the liner shipping industry from the Competition Act's prohibition on anti-competitive agreements for one year, provided they do not include price fixing, capacity or sales limitations, or market/customer allocation; requires monitoring by the Director General, Shipping and filing of existing or new agreements and related documents within thirty days of publication or ten days of signing, whichever is later.

New Pension Scheme governs Commission members' pension; bars entitlement to additional pension and gratuity, based on Secretary pay.
Rule 4 is substituted to provide that the Chairperson and other Members shall be governed by the New Pension Scheme, which shall be based on pay prescribed for the Secretary to the Government of India, and that the Chairperson and other Members shall not be entitled to additional pension or gratuity for services rendered in the Commission.

Engagement of experts or professionals now requires fixed contractual tenure and updated qualification and experience criteria.
Amendments expand the defined category to "experts or professionals including research associates" and substitute regulation 8(1) to provide that such experts or professionals including research associates shall ordinarily be engaged by the Commission on contractual basis for not less than one year and not more than three years. The amendments further revise Schedule I to set essential and desirable qualifications and experience for legal posts, and amend Schedule II to change preferred experience for Level I to one to three years.