IAMAI showdown: Start-ups explore other lobby groups to fight Big Tech dominance

This comes days after a controversy erupted about IAMAI's alleged leanings to big tech giants like Google and Meta.

A splinter group of around 30-40 startups and domestic companies who are Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) members are considering whether to join other tech lobby groups, including a prominent rival tech association that is involved in legal action against Big Tech firms, according to people close to the developments.

This comes days after a controversy erupted about IAMAI's alleged leanings to tech giants like Google and Meta.

"There's a WhatsApp group of around 394 participants who are largely Indian founders and includes both IAMAI members and non-members. The mood has been really hot there with several founders ranting about the issue," said the founder of a unicorn.

"They are saying either we should compel IAMAI to restructure their workings and kick out the Big Tech firms, or join the other prominent rival of the lobby. A third but not too probable option is to form a new group," he added.

Earlier this week, in a bid to assuage the concerns of domestic tech companies, IAMAI said that it was carrying out its mandate by following a process and "work without fear or favour".

On the specific issue of a separate competition law for the digital arena, which triggered the controversy, IAMAI President Subho Ray told members in an e-mail earlier this week that an overwhelming majority of the group’s constituents were opposed to the idea of such legislation.

"The genesis of the recent social media and media buzz is the issue of the government setting up a committee to purportedly bring in a separate Competition Law for digital companies. One of the key features of the proposed new competition law is likely to be ex-ante regulations. This means even before you have become large or dominant, your company would be subject to the new provisions," IAMAI President Subho Ray wrote in the mail.

Sources had earlier said that IAMAI’s views on the matter may be submitted this week to the Committee on Digital Competition Law (CDCL). However, now, that is unlikely and the process may be delayed further in light of the current controversy.

Moneycontrol has sent queries to IAMAI on the matter and this article will be updated when we receive their responses.

The CDCL earlier had a May 6 deadline for industry bodies to submit their report. However reports state that the deadline has been extended, and a CDCL meeting is scheduled for May 10 to deliberate on the matter further.

Meanwhile, Monday (May 1) was the last day for IAMAI members to submit their views regarding the matter, the group had said in a recent email to its 500 plus members.

A source briefed on the matter said that IAMAI can make changes in its recommendation based on the dissenting views that it may have received from domestic companies. However, that seems unlikely since IAMAI's president Shubho Ray has already said that the last version of its suggestions on the matter, which argued against a separate competition law, reflected the opinion of the majority of IAMAI members.

However, the dissenting views can be captured in a 'dissent note' as part of the larger industry consultation document, and be submitted to the government, sources said.

Another person close to the developments said that IAMAI might be planning to do separate calls with its members and non-member domestic companies on the issue, in order to discuss their concerns about the group’s independence.

“The issue here is very simple. All of us would like anything that hurts big tech companies. Perhaps, one way to revamp the working of the lobby group would be to ensure that the big tech firms don’t get any of the top positions in the upcoming elections of IAMAI,” said the founder of the Indian unicorn quoted earlier.