New governing council of IAMAI meets for the first time since getting elected

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.

In its first meeting since getting elected last month, a sense of moderation was observed in industry body Internet and Mobile Association's (IAMAI) governing council's approach towards tackling Big Tech.

"Most of the discussion centred around Big Tech, what should be our stance and how we shouldn't go completely anti-big tech... There were no other policy discussions," a person in the know said. The meeting was held on June 14.

The new 24-member governing council of the IAMAI was elected in May following a month-long saga that saw many Indian entrepreneurs accusing the industry body and its previous governing council of "parroting" Big Tech's views.

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

The newly-elected executive council members are Dream11's Harsh Jain as chairperson, Rajesh Magow of MakeMyTrip as vice chairperson, and Satyan Gajwani of Times Internet as the treasurer. The top three companies, in terms of votes received, form the executive council.

Sources said that during the meeting, which also coincided with the industry body's annual general meeting, there also seemed to be a consensus on prioritising start-ups in IAMAI's charter.

"There was also a discussion on what the IAMAI charter stands for... If it is first and foremost for the broader internet sector in India or for startups in the country. It seemed most of them broadly agreed that it should be start-ups first," a second person close to the developments said.

Apart from that members also discussed the road forward on the Google billing issue, sources said, adding that it will be decided at a later date. IAMAI executive council listened to feedback of governing council members, sources added.

Moneycontrol had earlier reported how IAMAI's new governing council members will meet to decide on issues such as Google's 30 per cent billing commission and a framework to deal with anti-competitive agenda.

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Google has received widespread criticism for its play store billing system that mandates app developers to use it for in-app purchases. Developers have been complaining about the 15 per cent to 30 per cent commission that Google charges for all in-app purchases made through the Play Store.

Indian start-ups too have been particularly upset with Google regarding the matter, a sentiment which played a major role in Big Tech companies being voted out of the newly-elected IAMAI governing council.