Section 2: Interpretation

2. Interpretation (1) In this Act— “agreement” means any form of agreement, whether or not legally enforceable, between enterprises which is implemented or intended to be implemented in Mauritius or in any part of Mauritius, and includes an oral agreement, a decision by an association of enterprises, and any concerted practice; [Issue 5] C36A – 2 Revised Laws of Mauritius “assets”, in relation to an enterprise, means all the tangible assets of the enterprise, including its— (a) shares, other financial securities and brands; (b) goodwill, intellectual property rights and know-how; “business” includes a professional practice or any other activity which is carried out for gain or reward; “collusive agreement” means an agreement referred to in section 41, 42 or 43; “Commission” means the Competition Commission established under section 4; “Commissioner” means a person appointed as such under section 7; “company” means a body corporate incorporated, with or without limited liability, in any part of the world; “concerted practice” means a practice involving contacts or communications between competitors, falling short of an actual agreement but which nonetheless restricts competition between them; “consumer” means any direct or indirect user of a product or service supplied by an enterprise in the course of business, and includes— (a) another enterprise that uses the product or service thus supplied as an input to its own business; (b) a wholesaler, a retailer and a final consumer; “document” includes information recorded in written, electronic or any other form, together with access to the technology enabling information in electronic form to be retrieved; “enterprise” means any person, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association or other juridical person, engaged in commercial activities for gain or reward, and includes a branch, subsidiaries, affiliates or other entities directly or indirectly controlled by them; “Executive Director” means a person appointed as such under section 20 or a person fulfilling the functions of that office; “financial penalty” means a financial penalty imposed under section 59; “goods” includes buildings and other structures; “group”, in relation to an enterprise that is a company, means that company, any other company that is its holding company or subsidiary and any other company that is a subsidiary of its holding company; “horizontal agreement” means an agreement between enterprises which, for the purpose of that agreement, operate in the same market and are actual or potential competitors in that market; “immunity” means a total exemption from a financial penalty; “leniency” means a partial exemption from a financial penalty; C36A – 3 [Issue 5] Competition Act “market” means a market for goods or services in Mauritius or part of Mauritius; “Minister” means the Minister to whom responsibility for the subject of competition matters is assigned; “monopoly situation” means the situation that exists in the circumstance specified in section 46; “premises” includes land, any building, structure, vehicle, vessel, aircraft or container; “price” includes any charge or fee; “prohibited agreement” means an agreement prohibited by virtue of the application of section 41, 42 or 43; “publish” includes to publish online; “regulator” means a regulatory body or agency, or a Government department that exercises functions of prudential or economic regulation on the basis of statutory powers; “resale price maintenance” stance specified in section 46; “premises” includes land, any building, structure, vehicle, vessel, aircraft or container; “price” includes any charge or fee; “prohibited agreement” means an agreement prohibited by virtue of the application of section 41, 42 or 43; “publish” includes to publish online; “regulator” means a regulatory body or agency, or a Government department that exercises functions of prudential or economic regulation on the basis of statutory powers; “resale price maintenance” means an agreement between a supplier and a dealer with the object or effect of directly or indirectly establishing a fixed or minimum price or price level to be observed by the dealer when reselling a product or service to his customers; “restrictive business practice” means any situation falling within the scope of Part III; “services” includes the acceptance and performance of any obligation, whether professional or not, for gain or reward, other than the supply of goods, but does not include the rendering of any services under a contract of employment; “subsidiary” has the meaning assigned to it in the Companies Act; “supply” includes, in relation to— (a) goods, the supply or resupply, by way of sale, exchange, lease, hire or hire-purchase; and (b) services, the provision by way of sale, grant or conferment of the services; “undertaking” means an obligation or commitment as provided for under section 63 given in writing by an enterprise to, and accepted by, the Commissioners, to prevent or terminate a restrictive business practice; “vertical agreement” means an agreement between enterprises, each of which operates, for the purposes of the agreement, at a different level of the production or distribution chain and relates to the conditions under which the parties may purchase, sell or resell certain goods or services. (2) For the purposes of this Act, any 2 bodies corporate shall be treated as interconnected or as one person if either of them is a subsidiary of the other or if both of them are subsidiaries of the same body corporate. [S. 2 amended by s. 6 (a) of Act 27 of 2012 w.e.f. 22 December 2012.] [Issue 5] C36A – 4 Revised Laws of Mauritius