Parliamentary Panel Recommends Govt To Implement Digital Competition Act
The government of India should pass a digital competition act, according to a parliamentary panel's recommendation on Thursday. As a result, big tech companies won't be able to conduct anti-competitive activity on their platforms.
The panel noted in a report that it asks the government to examine and enact a digital competition act in order to promote an open and competitive digital ecosystem. This will be advantageous for the entire world, not just for our country but also for its embryonic start-up businesses.
Relationships between Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration and numerous significant technology firms have been strained, and New Delhi has been intensifying regulations of companies like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
Google and Apple, both owned by Alphabet Inc., have previously been targeted by India's Competition Commission (CCI) for allegedly manipulating the application market.
To combat monopolies, the group advised identifying leading technology companies as systemically significant digital intermediaries and cautioned that when operating as a middleman between supply and demand markets, "it must not prefer its own offers over those of its rivals."
According to allegations of anti-competitive methods against Amazon and rival Flipkart, preferred sellers are promoted on websites, and some merchants' listings are given precedence in India.
Companies like Facebook (META), Twitter, and Google (GOOGL.O) have been moaning for years about the onerous compliance requirements associated with the several restrictions India has recommended for the technology sector. Relationships between New Delhi and Washington have occasionally been strained by the allegations.
The panel advised the competition watchdog to establish a specialised division for digital markets and stressed the necessity of monitoring big tech corporations' competitive behaviour before markets monopolise rather than after.
