Mauritius
Competition Act
Act 25 of 2007
- Commenced on 24 October 2008
- [This is the version of this document at 30 June 2017.]
Part I – Preliminary
1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Competition Act.2. Interpretation
3. Application of Act
Part II – The Competition Commission
I – Establishment, functions and powers of Commission
4. Establishment of Commission
5. Functions of Commission
The Commission shall—6. Powers of Commission
The Commission shall have such powers as are necessary to enable it to effectively discharge its functions and may, in particular—II – The Commissioners
7. Appointment of Commissioners
8. Term of office
9. Disclosure of assets and liabilities
A Commissioner shall not later than—10. Disqualification
No person shall be appointed or shall continue to hold office as a Commissioner if he—11. Removal and suspension from office
12. Vacancy in office of Commissioner
The office of a Commissioner shall become vacant where the Commissioner—13. Filling of vacancies
14. Employment after vacation of or removal or suspension from office
Where a Commissioner has vacated his office, or has been removed or suspended from office, he shall not take employment in, or be employed by, an enterprise which has been subject of an investigation under Part IV within a period of 3 years from the date of the said vacation of, or removal or suspension from, office, as the case may be.15. Conduct of Commissioners
III – Meetings, decisions and advice of Commission
16. Meetings of Commission
17. Decisions of Commission
Every decision at a meeting of the Commission shall be by a majority of the members present and voting and, in the event of an equality of votes, the Chairperson shall have a casting vote.18. Duty to give reasons
The Commission shall prepare and publish its decisions together with the reasons for such decisions.19. Advice of Commission to Minister
The Commission may advise the Minister on any action taken or proposed to be taken by the State or any public body that may adversely affect competition in the supply of goods and services.IV – The Executive Director and other staff of Commission
20. Appointment of Executive Director
21. Disclosure of assets and liabilities
The Executive Director shall not later than—22. Disqualification
No person shall be appointed or shall continue to hold office as Executive Director if he—23. Removal and suspension from office
24. Vacancy in office of Executive Director
The office of Executive Director shall become vacant where the Executive Director—25. Employment after vacation of or removal or suspension from office
Where the Executive Director has vacated his office, or has been removed or suspended from office, he shall not take employment in, or be employed by, an enterprise which has been subject of an investigation under Part IV within a period of 3 years from the date of the said vacation of, or removal or suspension from, office, as the case may be.26. Staff of Commission
27. Appointment of inspectors and consultants
28. Disclosure of interest
29. Disclosure of assets and liabilities
A member of the staff of the Commission shall not later than—30. Functions and powers of Executive Director
The Executive Director shall—31. Delegation of powers by Executive Director
The Executive Director may delegate to any staff of the Commission, such of his functions and powers under this Act as may be necessary to assist in the effective management of the Commission.32. Independence of Executive Director
Where the Executive Director exercises his power to investigate into a case involving a restrictive business practice, he shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority.V – Financing and accountability
33. General Fund
34. Accounts and audit
35. Annual report
36. Execution of documents
37. Powers of Minister
38. Guidelines and procedural rules
39. Protection from liability
No liability, civil or criminal, shall attach to the Commission, a Commissioner, the Executive Director, an employee of the Commission, an inspector or consultant, or any other person to whom any function has been lawfully assigned or delegated under this Act, for any act done or omitted to be done, in good faith under this Act.[S. 39 repealed and replaced by s. 6 (b) of Act 27 of 2012 w.e.f. 22 December 2012.]40. Register of complaints
The Executive Director may keep, in such form and manner as he may determine, a register of complaints which shall be made available for public inspection.Part III – Restrictive business practices
I – Collusive agreements
41. Horizontal agreements
42. Bid rigging
43. Vertical agreements involving resale price maintenance
II – Other restrictive agreements
44. Non-collusive horizontal agreements
A horizontal agreement that is not collusive under section 41 may be reviewed by the Commission where—45. Other vertical agreements
A vertical agreement that does not involve resale price maintenance may be reviewed where the Commission has reasonable grounds to believe that one or more parties to the agreement is or are in a monopoly situation that is subject to review under section 46.[S. 45 came into operation on 25 November 2009.]III – Monopoly situations
46. Existence of monopoly situation
IV – Control of merger situations by Commission
47. Merger situation
48. Merger situations subject to review by Commission
A merger situation shall be subject to review by the Commission where—V – Share of supply criteria and assessment of restrictive business practices
49. Share of supply criteria
50. Assessment of restrictive business practices
Part IV – Investigations
51. Report to Commission
51A. Protection of informers
52. Power of Executive Director to investigate restrictive business practices
53. Entry and search
54. Legal professional privilege
Part V – Hearings before the Commission
55. Convening of hearings
56. Penalties and directions
57. Conflict of interests
A Commissioner shall not attend a hearing if the Commissioner has a direct or indirect interest in the outcome of the investigation to which the hearing relates.[S. 57 came into operation on 25 November 2009.]Part VI – Determination of cases by Commission, penalties and remedies
58. Directions by Commission
59. Financial penalty
60. Directions relating to distortion, prevention or restriction of competition
61. Remedies in merger control
62. Interim measures
63. Undertakings
64. Keeping directions and undertakings under review
65. Enforcement of directions and undertakings
Part VII – Relationship between Commission and other regulators
66. Memorandum of Understanding between Commission and regulators
The Commission and regulators shall enter into a Memorandum of Understanding governing the effective exercise of their respective responsibilities and establishing mechanisms for practical co-operation in the exercise of those responsibilities, including the use of the sector-specific expertise of the regulators in respect of investigations under this Act.[S. 66 came into operation on 25 November 2009.]Part VIII – Appeals
67. Appeal to Supreme Court
68. Powers of Supreme Court on appeal
On appeal, the Supreme Court may—69. Decision not suspended on appeal
No appeal under this Part shall operate as a stay of an order or direction given by the Commission, except for an order imposing a financial penalty on an enterprise.[S. 69 came into operation on 25 November 2009.]Part IX – Miscellaneous
70. Disclosure of information
71. Offences
72. Regulations
73. ***
74. ***
75. ***
History of this document
30 June 2017 this version
Consolidation
24 October 2008
Commenced