Overwhelming majority opposed to separate competition law, IAMAI tells members

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.