ShareChat and Paytm oppose IAMAI, back separate digital competition law in India

Established in 2004, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) is a industry body representing the digital services industry with over 500 Indian and multinational corporations as its members.

ShareChat, which is funded by Google and Twitter, and fintech giant Paytm have backed a separate digital competition law for India aimed at addressing anti-competitive practices by Big Tech companies, in what is a departure from the stance taken by industry body Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).

In its submission to the Committee on Digital Competition Law (CDCL), the IAMAI had underscored that it was against an "ex-ante" separate law, as it would be detrimental to both large companies and startups. Ex-ante regulations, which are implemented prior to specific events or activities, were criticized by IAMAI for disregarding factors such as pro-competitive effects, efficiency, and innovation.

The Digital Competition Law is of particular importance because it is aimed at addressing the alleged anti-competitive practices by Big Tech companies. This law may also define Big Tech companies as Systemically Important Digital Intermediaries (SIDIs) based on their revenues, market capitalization, and the number of end users.

IAMAI acknowledged that its members Paytm and ShareChat hold "divergent" views from those expressed in its submission. ShareChat declined to comment on the matter, and Moneycontrol has reached out to Paytm for a response. The publication has also reached out to Google for comments.

Also read: All you need to know about the ongoing tussle at IAMAI on Big Tech, competition law, and elections

Meanwhile, PhonePe CEO Sameer Nigam criticised founders who opposed IAMAI's views, calling them opportunistic. It is worth noting that PhonePe is also a member of IAMAI. Nigam stated in a tweet that ex-ante regulations are always a bad idea and that founders supporting such regulations against others today would eventually seek fewer regulations themselves in the future.

ShareChat's opposition to IAMAI's views comes at a time when some Indian entrepreneurs have accused the industry body of echoing the perspectives of Big Tech companies.

While arguing that a digital competition law was necessary for the country, such entrepreneurs implied that IAMAI's stance against such a law was influenced by the composition of its leadership.

IAMAI's outgoing executive council consists of representatives from Big Tech companies. The industry body is currently conducting elections for its governing council, with the three highest-voted members forming the executive council, which includes the chairperson, vice-chairperson, and treasurer.

The contestants for the governing council elections include numerous representatives from Indian companies, such as Rohan Verma (CEO of MapMyIndia), Murugavel Janakiraman (founder of BharatMatrimony), Harsh Jain (founder of Dream11), Harshil Mathur (founder of Razorpay), Ritesh Malik (founder of Innov8), Chintan Thakkar (CFO of Info Edge), and others.

In addition to Indian entrepreneurs, employees from foreign tech giants like Meta, Amazon, Google, and Netflix are also participating in the governing council elections.