Overwhelming majority opposed to separate competition law, IAMAI tells members

Representative image

The overwhelming majority of Internet and Mobile Association of India's (IAMAI) members are opposed to the idea of a separate competition law for the digital market, the tech lobby group with more than 500 member companies told its constituents in a mail on May 2, after controversy erupted over its alleged leanings to big tech companies.

"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 your have become large or dominant, your company would be subject to the new provisions," IAMAI President Subho Ray wrote in the mail.

Ray said that the issue was first put before 75 plus members of different segments in the public policy committee for their views on March 6. Subsequently, the draft of IAMAI's submission was shared with more than 400 members in two tranches. Around April 27, while it was still a work in progress, this document was leaked to a WhatsApp group.

"The leaked document clearly stated that among the members who had made written submissions to us, an overwhelming majority were opposed to the idea of a separate Competition Law for digital companies as well as to ex-ante regulations," Ray said.

"Yesterday was the last date for members to submit written views on the issue to us. We hope to finalise our response by the end of this week and share it with the government," he added.

The IAMAI office-bearer said that the grouping is tasked with carrying out the group's mandate by following a process and "work without fear or favour".

The tech lobby group is facing criticism from the Indian startup ecosystem for 'parroting views of big tech companies'. This criticism is particularly aimed at a draft submission prepared by IAMAI on whether the country needs a separate law for tackling big tech firms' anti-competitive practices.

Moneycontrol reported earlier that the IAMAI, whose members include the Indian arm of Big Tech firms such as Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Meta, and others, argued against the need for a separate Digital Competition Law, claiming that it would harm startups, increase regulatory costs, and so on.

The arguments were made in a draft document that will be submitted to the Committee on Digital Competition Law (CDCL), a body that was formed to look into the need for a separate law for competition in digital markets.

However, a few companies and personalities from the Indian startup ecosystem disagree with IAMAI's position, claiming that they support such a law and that Big Tech companies influenced the industry body's opposition. Such startups are calling for changes to be made in IAMAI.