[Draft] iamai submission to Committee on Digital Competition Law

[Draft] IAMAI Submission to Committee on Digital Competition Law

The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) is a not-for-profit industry body and we play a key role in ensuring the growth and sustainability of the digital industry. We firmly believe that the digital industry is going to be a major driving force in the economic and social development of the country which includes job creation, innovation, contribution to the GDP, inclusion and empowerment of our citizens, etc.

On 22 December 2022, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance (PSCF) released its report on “Anti-competitive practices by the Big Tech companies” (Big Tech Report) and in February 2023 the Government of India constituted the Hon’ble Committee on Digital Competition Law (CDCL) which would examine the need of a separate law on competition in digital markets in India and draft a Digital Competition Act within a timeframe of 3 months. As part of our mandate to represent industry concerns and support informed policymaking, we would like to put forth the following points for the CDCL’s consideration.
IAMAI Submission
1. Absence of an evidence-based approach
IAMAI notes and appreciates the efforts made by the PSCF to examine India’s regulatory landscape and assess if additional regulation is warranted. The Big Tech Report recommends that competitive behaviour in digital markets needs to be regulated ex-ante as opposed to the present ex-post regulation. The primary reason for the recommendation is the “defining characteristics” observed in the digital markets. The Report also recommends designating a small number of leading players that can negatively influence the competitive conduct in the digital ecosystem as Systemically Important Digital Intermediaries (SIDIs). The recommendation is to identify SIDIs through stakeholder consultation based on their (a) revenues; (b) market capitalization; and (c) number of active business and end users. However, IAMAI is concerned with the lack of clarity, underlying assumptions, and absence of an evidence-based approach in the Big Tech Report.