It's that time of the year! Arch-rivals Amazon and Flipkart have started their annual festive sale events today, kicking off a crucial showdown between two of India's largest e-commerce platforms. These, however, come amid concerns of inflation impacting consumer demand in the country.

One quick thing: NPCI shareholders have approved the re-appointment of Dilip Asbe as the managing director and Chief Executive Officer for a period of five years, with effect from January 8, 2023.

In today's newsletter:

• Decryption cloud over messaging apps
• IT matters: What Accenture's results signal
• Zomato cracks down on multi-brand cloud kitchens

Bonus: Is Moonlighting cheating or the new reality? Infosys banned it, Wipro fired 300 for it, while Swiggy has a policy for it. Earlier today, India’s junior IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar also backed it.

In the latest edition of Moneycontrol Masterclass, we try to decode the raging debate around moonlighting with an ace panel of experts that includes TV Mohandas Pai of Aarin Capital, T.N. Hari of Artha School of Entrepreneurship, Sriram Rajagopal of Diamondpick, and Aditya Mishra of CIEL HR.

Watch the show

“What is a message? That’s the question,” says a technology lawyer as his arguments seemingly run in circles while trying to make sense of the draft telecom bill for his clients.

This week, tech companies were hit with yet another policy bombshell.

The first issue is that the new bill classifies over-the-top communication players as "telecom services."

• The definition is so broad that it includes not only messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Signal, but almost any internet-based service.
  
  
• It also allows the government to grant licences for telecommunication services, which means that these communication platforms may be subject to licencing in the future.
  
  
• The draft bill has also introduced provisions to allow both the Centre and state governments to order surveillance or network shutdowns

Do read our explainer on the draft telecommunication bill.

The most concerning provision for OTT players and digital activists is the ambiguously worded provision related to encrypted communication.

• Experts believe that the bill is yet another attack on end-to-end encryption and people's fundamental rights and freedoms.
  
  
• However, telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has argued that the draft legislation doesn't force decryption of messages on OTT-based services.
  
  
• Vaishnaw did admit, however, that the bill allows 'interception' of messages based on Supreme Court guidelines.

The telecom bill has made an effort to encourage technological innovation, even if that's not directly in its purview. For example, it calls for common cable ducts to be built alongside highways, railway lines, gas pipelines, and water pipelines to improve internet connectivity.

• A regulatory sandbox mechanism has also been proposed to help startups test their innovations within small areas.

"There won't be a burden on innovation. But the protection of users would be paramount," said Vaishnaw.

Consulting firm Accenture's revenue estimates for the first quarter of the upcoming fiscal may cause a concern for the Indian IT industry. 

Accenture's results, which precede those of India's major IT companies, typically sets the tone for the earnings of these IT majors. Also, a sizable portion of the company's workforce is based in India.

Accenture’s services are still in high demand, CEO Julie Sweet said during the company’s earnings call.

• However, macroeconomic concerns continue to weigh heavily, and she claims that companies impacted by supply chain disruption and inflation continue to focus on cost.

For now, Accenture is recommending to its clients that they do things that are material, and not have “1,000 different pilots as opposed to actually getting to scale”. The company also cautioned a tight labour market and wage inflation is expected to continue.

According to analysts, Indian IT may post good numbers in the upcoming results, but the problem is Accenture's revenue guidance for the next quarter, which is lower than expected.

They believe this could be a sign of concern about the slowing of the world's largest economies, such as those in North America and Europe.

• Accenture’s consulting bookings have also been dipping, signalling a decline in discretionary spends.
  
  
• IT cos here have also been dealing with margin pressures amid raising employee costs, and analysts say that the pressure on margins is likely to continue.

Indian IT cos have continued to battle record attrition, and Accenture wasn’t different with attrition at 20%. But at that rate, it had a net addition of nearly 11,000 people, which was closer to its pre-pandemic figures. With this, a slowdown in hiring is expected in Indian IT cos as well.

After nearly a month it was revealed that a Bengaluru-based cloud kitchen operated over 200 brands, Zomato has finally spoken out against the practice.

• We recently visited this kitchen and found that the food regulator FSSAI had directed the owner to follow the standards. Do read our first-person account.

Zomato said it will begin manually checking the physical locations of kitchens that operate more than ten brands from a single location, as well as create a "whitelist" of restaurant partners that "provide a great experience."

For weeks, the foodtech major has been in talks with NRAI to figure out the best way to stop these practices. Although the FSSAI allows cloud kitchens to operate multiple brands, Zomato said that few misuse it.

"Such as some fly-by-night operators, who account for less than ~0.2% of registered kitchens, misuse this flexibility in law by creating innumerable brands from the same kitchen. These brands have little to no differentiation in the product offering; instead they confuse/cheat customers by creating a false perception of choice," Zomato said.

It is not uncommon to run 2-4 brands from a single cloud kitchen. It contributes to increased revenue and multiple positioning through different cuisines, price points, and so on.

For example, Faasos, Behrouz Biryani, Oven Story Pizza, Lunch Box, Mandarin Oak, The Good Bowl, SLAY Coffee, Sweet Truth, and Wendy's are among the brands housed by Rebel Foods, which became a unicorn in 2021.

Read our story

• Celsius shareholders filed a motion to form a committee to ensure they are adequately represented in the company's bankruptcy proceedings. According to a filing by lawyers for a group of equity owners, Series B preferred shareholders "urgently require their own fiduciary."
  
  
• Bits of Gold, a local cryptocurrency exchange, has been granted one of Israel's first licences for exchanges that target crypto financial-services providers by the country's top markets regulator.
  
  
• Compute North, a bitcoin mining hosting company, has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing increasing pressure from the effects of crypto winter and rising energy costs. Dave Perrill, the company's CEO, has also stepped down but will remain on the board.

Jharkhand’s Jamtara is widely dubbed as the phishing capital of India.

Netflix’s popular series Jamtara- Sabka Number Ayega had put a spotlight on the scamsters in this small town when it was released in 2020.

Two years later, the cyber-crime show is back with another season with new scams, higher stakes and the same old town.

Inspired by real-life incidents, the series follows the lives of young people who plan an elaborate phishing scam and make a fortune.

Watch it on Netflix

P.S. Jamtara director Soumendra Padhi also recently spoke about what’s different about this season and the research that went into making the show.