Amidst industry concerns, MeitY calls meeting on proposed Digital Competition Bill

With the Digital Competition Bill seen as a key priority of the government, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has called a meeting on June 13 to discuss it with stakeholders and industry players. Officials from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs will also attend the meeting, which has been called by the MeitY Secretary.

According to sources, the meeting has been called to understand the concerns of the industry around the proposed Bill that seeks to regulate competition in the digital markets. Industry players have in the past been keen that MeitY, which regulates other aspects of the sector, step in to discuss the Bill.

The Bill, which has been finalised by a high-level committee led by the Secretary of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, has called for ex-ante regulations or pre-emptive measures to regulate anti-competitive behaviour by Big Tech firms by identifying large digital enterprises with a ‘significant presence’ in India in selected ‘core digital services’ (CDS).

After nearly a year of consultations, the MCA in March put out the report of the CDCL and the draft DCB for public consultations. The last date for submitting comments was April 15 initially, which was later extended to May 15.

The report has raised questions amongst industry players, especially Big Tech firms, who have been concerned that the Bill could stifle competition and innovation in the emerging sector. In their inputs on the Bill, industry associations such as Nasscom have called for further discussions on the proposed ex-ante regulations as well as strengthening the current regulatory framework and capacity building at the Competition Commission of India.

Domestic start-ups and industry association the Alliance of Digital India Foundation have, however, welcomed the Bill and said it would tackle the unbridled dominance of Big Tech gatekeepers and also foster an equitable digital economy.

However, according to sources, the draft bill is just the first phase of consultations, and more discussions will take place before the Bill is finalised and put before the Cabinet for approval. It is expected that the Bill could be taken up in the Winter Session of Parliament.