The Competition Act 2003

The Jurisdiction, powers and authority of the Commission may be exercised by Benches which shall be constituted by the Chairperson .The Bench shall consists of not less than two members.

On receipt of a complaint or a reference from the Central Government, or a Statutory authority or on its own knowledge or information, the Commission is of the opinion that there exists a prima facia case, shall direct the Director General to cause an investigation to be made into the matter.

The Commission can levy penalty for contravention of its orders, failure to comply with its directions, making of false statements or omission to furnish material information, etc. Further the Commission can levy upon an enterprise a penalty of not more than 10% of its average turnover for the last three financial years. It can also order division of dominant enterprises. It will also have power to order demerger in the case of mergers and amalgamations that adversely affect competition.

The act provides for a fund called the Competition fund. The grants given by the Central Government, fees received under the Act and costs realized by the Commission and application fees charged will be credited into this Fund.