The Competition (Amendment) Act, 2023 represents the most consequential overhaul of India's merger control framework in over two decades. Among its far-reaching changes, the statutory codification of "material influence" as the operative threshold for "control" under the Competition Act, 2002 is perhaps the most ambiguous and the most consequential for deal-makers. By formally recognising the lowest degree of control as the trigger for mandatory merger notification, the Amendment Act has fundamentally altered the legal calculus for minority investors, private equity funds, and venture capital players. This article critically examines the material influence standard, traces its judicial evolution under Competition Commission of India ("CCI") decisional practice, and evaluates the resulting compliance burdens and structural uncertainties for the M&A ecosystem. The author argues that without a codified, non-exhaustive list of rights constituting material influence, the standard risks becoming an instrument of regulatory overreach rather than a tool of competition protection, and proposes a framework for CCI regulation that could resolve this ambiguity in a manner consistent with global best practices.