Asia Internet Coalition, an industry body representing companies such as Google, Twitter, and Meta criticised and termed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance's recommendation to introduce a digital competition law and its overall report on Big Tech firms' anti-competitive practices as 'absolutist' and 'regressive'.
In a statement from January 6, the AIC said, "The AIC is concerned that the digital competition law recommended by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance may dampen digital innovation in India."
It recommended the government to conduct wide consultations with stakeholders to "new legislative proposals meet international best practices, are evidence-based, and are for the purpose of benefiting innovation, growth, and consumers".
The AIC's members include Amazon, Meta, Google, Twitter, Meta, LinkedIn, and so on
On December 23, the committee in its report recommended that India should enhance its competition law to address the unique needs of the digital market.
The committee suggested that a digital markets unit be established within the commission, with experts who could monitor systematically important digital intermediaries (SIDIs) and emerging SIDIs and also offer suggestions to the Centre.
The report recommends defining Big Tech companies as Systemically Important Digital Intermediaries (SIDIs) on the basis of their revenues, market capitalisation, and end users.
What AIC said
The report put forward by the Committee is prescriptive, absolutist and regressive in nature, incorporating proposals from the European Union’s (“EU”) Digital Markets Act (“DMA”)," the AIC said in a statement.
The industry body said that DMA has been criticised in Europe, as has legislations such as American Innovation and Choice Online Act and the Open App Market Act, which were referred to in the Standing Committee's report.
The industry body urged the government to study DMA to observe whether its benefit outweighs its costs.
"Specifically, it is important to note that the Government has recently proposed two significant bills, i.e the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill and the Competition Amendment Bill (“CAB”), both of which seek to protect consumers, preserve competition and promote tech innovation, with a special focus on digital markets," it said.
"Accordingly, it is critical to first understand the effects of these two bills on the digital ecosystem before introducing any new legislative proposals," the body added.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
