NEW DELHI, MAY 4: At a time when the Government is accusing cement, steel and tyre companies of raising prices through cartelisation, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), the regulator to check colluders, remains without professional staff, members, even powers to notify sections that will operationalise the Competition Act’s punitive provisions.

According to government officials, it has been seven months since the Competition Act was amended, passed by Parliament and notified by the President. But the Ministry of Corporate Affairs is yet to manage sanction for the professional staff strength or call applications for posts of members in the Commission. The CCI technically requires at least three members before it can notify sections to move against cartels and abuse of dominance by companies.

According to FICCI president Rajeev Chandrashekar, the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister — while one has called for curbs in corporate lifestyle and executive compensation, the other has warned companies not to hike prices of commodities — need to “focus on creating the right institutional framework, like empowering the CCI.”

In the first year, the CCI had sought 125 professionals, including lawyers and chartered accountants besides 60 support staff for functions such as management of information systems. “A Cabinet note on staffing, drafted by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, has been floating around for the last four months. The Finance Ministry has now raised questions on the nature of posts and pay-scales,” an official said.

The Act, in place since October 2007, requires the CCI to have six members in addition to a chairman. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has only recently set up a committee, chaired by the Chief Justice of India or his nominee and four others, to select the members and the chairman. The committee, the officials said, will take at least a month to advertise for the positions.

Officials said the Ministry of Corporate Affairs was keen to handle the recruitment of professionals itself rather than hand over the task to the Competition Commission which currently has just one member, Vinod K Dhall, who is also its acting chairman. Dhall’s tenure ends in November this year.

The Government is yet to locate a large enough office for the Commission. The CCI, the officials said, will need about 80,000 sq ft when fully staffed. About two months ago, the Commission, on its part, set up a panel with officials from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to scout for an ideal location, and also advertised, calling for technical and financial bids.

While the CCI has received 7-8 proposals meeting its specification that the required premises should be in a 10- km radius of the High Court and Supreme Court, the Government plans to wait for a regulatory institutional complex being conceived in Vasant Vihar in South Delhi.

Officials said the CCI would take about a year to be fully operational. After recruitment of staff which will take about 4-5 months, they need to be trained. This will take another three months. After the selection committee appoints members (at least three months from now) and a chairman, notification of sections will require at least a month.