The CCI (Manner of Recovery of Monetary Penalty) Regulations, 2025

Imposing a penalty and collecting it are different problems, and the Commission's recovery rate has long been the weakest part of its enforcement. The Competition Commission of India (Manner of Recovery of Monetary Penalty) Regulations, 2025 were notified on 25 February 2025 and came into force on 27 February 2025, replacing the regulations of 2011 after a review and public consultation. They tighten the sequence from demand to attachment and, most significantly, make interest run from the original due date even where the penalty was stayed on appeal for years.

1. The Sequence

Demand notice. The Secretary issues a demand notice in the prescribed form, together with a copy of the order imposing the penalty, to the enterprise or person and to the recovery officer. Under the new regulations the notice is issued concurrently with the order, whereas previously it followed the expiry of the period stated in the order.
Time to pay. Not less than sixty days from the receipt of the order. Payment is made by challan in favour of the designated account, and the receipt is filed with the recovery officer within a short period, the payment being entered in the penalty recovery register.
Extension and instalments. An application may be made before the due date for extension or for payment by instalments, on such conditions as the Commission thinks fit. Failure to adhere to the extended terms makes the entire penalty due immediately and the party a defaulter.
Interest. Simple interest at one per cent per month, or part of a month, on the amount outstanding after the period specified in the demand notice. The Commission may reduce or waive it where the default was due to circumstances beyond the party's control.
Recovery certificate. On continued default the recovery officer issues a certificate, with a short further period to pay.
Enforced collection. The recovery officer may require payment from persons who owe money to the defaulter, proceed against third parties or legal heirs, and attach and sell movable and immovable property.
Reference to the income tax authorities. Section 39(2) permits a reference for recovery as if the penalty were tax due. Where such authorities begin recovery, the Commission's own proceedings stand deferred, which the new regulations provide expressly to prevent parallel recovery.

2. Interest and the Appeal

The provision on interest where a penalty has been stayed is the most consequential change, and it should be read with the pre-deposit requirement in Section 53B. An appellant must deposit twenty-five per cent of the penalty before its appeal is entertained. If the penalty is ultimately confirmed, interest runs from the original due date regardless of how many years the appeal took; if the penalty is reduced or modified, the interest is correspondingly reduced, again from the original date. The effect is to remove the financial advantage of delay, since the time value of the money withheld is recovered through interest rather than enjoyed by the party.

⚠ What this means in advising a client

An appeal is no longer a way of deferring the cost of a penalty. The party must fund the twenty-five per cent deposit at the outset and must provide for interest accruing on the balance at twelve per cent a year throughout the appeal. That calculation should be made before the decision to appeal is taken, and it is one of the practical reasons the settlement route under Section 48A has become attractive: a settlement amount paid now, with a discount, may cost less than a contested penalty paid years later with interest.

3. Related Topics and Provisions

Topic or provision	Connection
Penalties under the Competition Act	The penalties these regulations recover
Appeals and Judicial Remedies	The pre-deposit requirement and the effect of a stay
Settlement and Commitment	The alternative to a contested penalty
Sections 39, 42 and 53B, Competition Act, 2002	Recovery, non-compliance and appeal