ADIF to meet MeitY officials to discuss ‘abuse of dominance’

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The Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF)), a New Delhi thinktank consisting of entrepreneurs and startups, is likely to meet MeitY officials next week to discuss possible policy intervention to address the abuse of dominance by the big tech companies like Google and Apple.

Sijo Kuruvilla George, executive director, ADIF, said that they are looking to meet the MeitY officials early next week to discuss proactive legislation similar to what South Korea has done.

Early this month, South Korea came out with an amendment to their Telecommunication Business Act that would require Google and Apple to enable multiple payment systems instead of their own . This means that the tech majors will not be able to charge commissions on in-app, which now stands at 30 percent, and a sore point in the development community. This was in addition to the $176 million fine levied by the Korea Fair Trade Commission.

According to experts, such a precedent is what is required to push for legislation in the country.

Amit Ranjan, CoFounder, SlideShare and Architect, DigiLocker Project said, “Over the last three years there have been growing concerns in the Indian community about the business practices of big tech companies like Google.”

For instance, Google and Apple does not allow other payment options for in-app purchases and levies a 30 percent commission, which will come into effect in India by March 2022. “Clearly they were overstepping the boundaries with the 30 percent commission, which not a lot of people were happy about and to be fair, the commission was out of whack,” he added.

That is why South Korea's legislation, Ranjam said, is a great step and this precedent will play a key role in helping it replicate in other countries.

Abuse of dominance in India

In 2018, Google was fined Rs 136 crore by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) against abuse of dominance for online general web search.

In June 2021, CCI order found that Google is abusing its dominance in the Android TV operating system. Last week Times of India reported that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has found Google guilty of adopting anti-competitive practices in the mobile operating system and related markets after a two year investigation.

Meeting MeitY officials

Kuruvilla explained that while the big tech companies have been fined by many countries like the US, Europe and more recently South Korea, it has not made a difference since fines are always retrospective. “Proactive legislation is the way to go,” he said.

The intervention is important as the deadline for the implementation of 30 percent commission is looming and will have a huge impact on the Indian developer system.

Ajay Data, General Secretary, ADIF and Managing Director, Data Group of Industries, said that one of the key tasks from the community to the MeitY officials would be allowing multiple payment gateways. Data said that the organization is also exploring a short-term intervention such as staying the Google playstore commission implementation in India to give India developers and startups respite.