Category: Legal Updates

Competition Amendment Bill 2022

Competition Amendment Bill, 2022: Key Changes to the Competition Act, 2002

Legal Updates | August 17, 2022 | Practice Area: ,

On August 5, 2022, the Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2022 (the “Bill”), to amend the Competition Act, 2002 (the “Competition Act”), was introduced in the Indian Parliament. The timing of approval of the Bill, and its coming into effect, is uncertain at present. The Bill introduces certain new concepts into the field of Indian competition law, including Deal Value Thresholds, the changes to the definition of ‘control’, and mechanisms to settle certain violations of the Competition Act. It also provides for practical and much-needed updates to the Indian competition law regime, including relaxations for implementation of stock exchange purchases, proposed publication of guidelines for fines, and reduction of timeframes for the Competition Commission of India’s approval. This note provides detailed description of the changes proposed by the Bill.

pvr inox

The PVR-INOX Merger: Bouncing Back from the Pandemic

Legal Updates | April 6, 2022 | Practice Area:

On March 27, 2022, PVR Limited announced that it proposes to merge with INOX Leisure Limited. The combined entity will be rebranded as ‘PVR INOX’ and will have a network of 1,546 theatres. Ordinarily, a deal of such magnitude would have required prior approval from the Competition Commission of India, however the decreased revenue of the parties owing to the pandemic appears to have provided a unique benefit to this deal. This note analyzes the market positions of PVR and INOX, the role of the CCI, and the target based exemption that is applicable to this deal.

competition commission of India

CCI Suspends Approval for Amazon-Future Deal

Legal Updates | December 22, 2021 | Practice Area:

By way of an order dated December 17, 2021, the Competition Commission of India (“CCI”) has fined Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings LLC (“Amazon”) an amount of INR 200 crore for suppression of facts in its application to the CCI for approval of its proposed acquisition of 49% of the shares of Future Coupons Private Limited (the “Amazon Acquisition”). The CCI has also directed Amazon to file a fresh application for approval of the Amazon Acquisition and stated that until disposal of the fresh application to be filed by Amazon, the earlier approval order of the CCI shall “remain in abeyance”.

This note analyses this decision of the CCI, including the basis for the CCI’s suspension of its approval and Amazon’s internal material considered by the CCI.

Supreme Court of India Clarifies ‘What is Arbitrable’ under Indian Law and Provides Guidance to Forums in Addressing the Question

Legal Updates | January 5, 2021 | Practice Area:

In the recent spate of amendments to the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 (the “Arbitration Act”), one issue remained overlooked – whether a particular dispute can be referred to arbitration or whether such dispute is exclusively reserved for adjudication by a court. For almost a decade, the sole guidance to courts deciding this question was the test formulated by the Supreme Court of India (the “Supreme Court”) in Booz Allen and Hamilton Inc v. SBI Home Finance Ltd. & Others (2011) 5 SCC 532 (“Booz-Allen Test”). However a closer look at the rulings of the Supreme Court over the last few years reveal that the Booz-Allen Test has failed to withstand the test of time – the ‘nature of rights’ principle on which the test is predicated has been found inadequate to conclusively determine the question of arbitrability. Recently, the Supreme Court revisited this question in Vidya Drolia & Others v. Durga Trading Corporation 2019 SCCOnLine SC 358 (“Vidya Drolia”) and proposed a four-fold test to determine arbitrability under Indian law. The Supreme Court also issued guidance to forums adjudicating this issue.

COVID-19: Suspension of Insolvency Proceedings in India

COVID-19 Resources | June 6, 2020 | Practice Area: ,

On June 5, 2020, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 was amended to inter-alia prohibit creditors and corporate debtors from initiating corporate insolvency resolution proceedings in respect of defaults arising during the six (6) month period from and including March 25, 2020 (the date of commencement of the national lockdown) – this period may be extended up to one (1) year.

COVID-19: Temporary Easing of SEBI Fund-raising Rules

COVID-19 Resources | April 23, 2020 | Practice Area: ,

With a view to facilitate fund-raising from the capital markets in the wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Securities and Exchange Board of India has decided to grant certain relaxations from the provisions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018, as amended, to public issues (both initial and further public offerings) and rights issues. The relaxations, which are contained in two separate SEBI circulars each dated April 21, 2020, essentially relate to (i) the validity of the SEBI observations, (ii) the requirement to file a fresh draft offer document in case of change in issue size and (iii) certain conditions applicable to rights issues.

COVID-19: Changes to India’s FDI Regime

COVID-19 Resources | April 20, 2020 | Practice Area: ,

In a significant move, the Indian Government has, in a bid to curb opportunistic takeovers of Indian companies as a result of COVID-19, directed that all investments from countries that share land borders with India will require prior regulatory approval. This change covers both direct and indirect investments and comes in the wake of recent acquisitions and exploration of investment opportunities by Chinese investors in India, scrutiny by the Indian securities regulator of Chinese ownership of portfolio investors and the introduction of stricter FDI regimes worldwide.

COVID 19: Revised default trigger under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code

COVID-19 Resources | March 31, 2020 | Practice Area: , ,

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread disruption of businesses and daily life. As governments across the world struggle to contain the pandemic, a number of regulatory and policy measures are being implemented by the Government of India to minimize the impact of the disruption caused to several classes of persons and corporate bodies.

A recent measure is the increase in the threshold for default by corporate debtors under Section 4 of the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (the “Code”) from INR 100,000 to INR 10,000,000 and a potential suspension of certain key provisions of the Code. These measures may have some positive and certain unintended consequences of concern to stakeholders.

COVID-19: Coping with the Pandemic and the Changing Regulatory Regime in India

COVID-19 Resources | March 21, 2020 | Practice Area: , , ,

The outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused widespread disruption of businesses and daily life. As governments across the world struggle to contain the pandemic, a number of measures are being implemented aimed at minimizing its spread. In India, such measures are increasingly taking the form of mandatory social distancing through the imposition of a series of restrictions. As the situation evolves, the requirement for further restrictions is being constantly evaluated by governments and new measures are being implemented. The pandemic and the resulting measures raise a host of legal issues and concerns for businesses. This update analyzes certain legal and regulatory concerns arising in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent restrictions.

The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019

Legal Updates | January 3, 2020 | Practice Area: , , ,

The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 (“PDP Bill”), which was presented before the lower house of the Indian Parliament on December 11, 2019, seeks to provide for the protection of personal data of individuals and establish a Data Protection Authority. The PDP Bill has been referred to a joint select committee of both the houses of the Indian Parliament, which is expected to submit its report in early 2020. Accordingly, there may be changes to the PDP Bill based on the recommendations of the joint select committee. Once enacted, the PDP Bill will replace Section 43 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011 and prevail over any other inconsistent laws in this regard (e.g., any sector-specific laws). This note provides an overview of the PDP Bill