The number of users in India and the amount of data collected by the company will be among the main factors used by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to determine if a company has "significant business operations" in India, CCI chairperson Ashok Kumar Gupta said in an interview with Business Standard. Why does this matter? The Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which was presented to the Lok Sabha on August 5, seeks to bring a larger number of mergers and acquisitions under CCI's purview. But this only applies to companies with "significant business operations" in India, which is undefined in the Bill. The CCI chief's comments shed light on the possible factors that the antitrust regulator might consider while defining the term. What does the new Bill propose for merger and acquisitions reporting? The Competition Bill seeks to amend section 5 of the Competition Act, 2002, to state that if the value of any transaction in connection with the acquisition of any control, shares, voting rights, etc., exceeds Rs. 2,000 crores ($250 million), it would require CCI approval, provided that parties to the transaction have “substantial business operations in India,” which will be defined by CCI. What are the current rules? Currently, mergers and acquisitions only need to be notified to the CCI if the parties involved have assets or turnover exceeding a certain threshold. The value of the deal is not considered because of which landmark deals like Facebook's acquisition of WhatsApp went ahead without the need for CCI's approval. "Entities operating a successful business…
