Govt considers market study to frame Big Tech competition regulations

The government may undertake a market study to establish a solid foundation for ex-ante regulations under draft Digital Competition Bill, said Harsh Malhotra, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs

The government is mulling conducting a market study to build a strong foundation for ex-ante regulations under the draft Digital Competition Bill, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Harsh Malhotra told the Parliament on Monday.

 

“Based on the suggestions/comments/inputs received, it is felt that an evidence-based foundation through market studies is required to consider all relevant aspects for ex-ante regulation considering it is in nascent implementational stages globally,” the minister said in reply to a question on the current status of the Draft Digital Competition Bill.

 

The ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) had constituted a committee on the Digital Competition Bill based on the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance in its 53rd report on “Anti- Competitive Practices by Big-Tech Companies.”

 

The Committee submitted its report in February 2024 along with a draft Digital Competition Bill.

 

The ministry has received responses from more than 100 stakeholders, ranging from legal professionals, industry associations, civil society organisations, and domestic and foreign digital enterprises providing digital services in India.

 

Malhotra told the Lok Sabha that the comments of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY) on the Bill were awaited. He also said that MeiTY had organised stakeholder discussions on this matter between June 18 to June 20.

 

 

A Parliamentary Panel, looking into the role of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in an evolving economy, particularly the digital landscape, has sought the views of the MCA on the suggestions made by some of the Indian online players regarding the draft Bill.

 

Speaking at a CCI event in March this year, Malhotra had said the government is not in a hurry to bring the Digital Competition Bill (DCB) and wants to follow due process and have more deliberations on the proposed legislation before introducing it. He said that strict interventions are required to enforce the law, self-regulation and compliance also has to be promoted.

 

The draft DCB provisions set quantitative and qualitative criteria for Systemically Significant Digital Enterprises (SSDE) such as turnover in India of not less than ₹4000 crore, or global turnover of not less than USD 30 billion.

 

The other criteria include gross merchandise value in India of not less than ₹16000 crore, global market capitalisation of not less than $75 billion.

 

It also says if the core digital service provided by the enterprise has at least one crore end users or 10,000 business users it would be a SSDE. These SSDEs, the draft bill proposes, would be covered by the ex-ante regulations.