The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) held its second meet on the Digital Competition Bill on June 19, this time with think tanks to deliberate on the potential impact the regulation may have on the industry.
The Digital Competition Bill brings in additional obligations for companies if they meet certain, specific thresholds such as global turnover, number of business users and so on. Although aimed at curbing anti-competitive practices of Big Tech, the industry has argued that the bill may severely impact smaller companies and startups.
The June 19 meeting was convened by IT secretary S Krishnan, and was attended by various MeitY officials and their peers from the Competition Commission of India (CCI). Think tanks that attended the meeting included Esya Centre, The Dialogue, CUTS, Chase India, MediaNama, Centre for Competition and Law, Centre for Digital Future and others.
During the one-hour meeting at the IT ministry, the think tanks were given approximately 10 to 15 minutes each to present their views. Sources said that there was a consensus around the opinion that ex-ante regulation like Digital Competition Bill will severely impact startups and innovation, sources said.
Ex-ante refers to regulatory measures that are implemented in anticipation of potential issues or problems.
Think tanks also stressed on the need for more evidence before introducing such regulations; they also stressed on alternative measures for strengthening CCI's capacity and so on.
In the coming days, the IT ministry is expected to meet more industry bodies and representatives of companies.
This is the second such meeting that the IT ministry has held with the industry. On June 19, the ministry sat down with industry associations such as Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS), CCAOI, MakeMyTrip, Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA), Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF), Indian Newspaper Society (INS) and others.
Sources said the IAMAI raised the issue of how the bill may have far-reaching effects on sectors such as investments. The ADIF, in contrast, advocated for the bill. Sources said MakeMyTrip, like the IAMAI, also suggested a relook at the thresholds for designating a company as SSDE in the draft bill.
The industry opinion was, however, split over the necessity of the bill. A few weeks ago, a handful of members of IAMAI wrote to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs registering their opposition to the industry body's stand on the bill.
The companies included Bharat Matrimony, Match Group, Hoichoi and Sharechat.
The split over the necessity of the bill can be traced back to 2023 when the Committee on Digital Competition Law (the body which drafted the bill) invited submissions from the industry on whether there was any need for a separate law to regulate the digital markets.
When IAMAI had then too argued against the need for a separate digital competition framework, Indian entrepreneurs had slammed the industry body, while alleging that its stance on the matter reflected the composition of its leadership (then composed of members of Big Tech companies).
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