A parliamentary panel on Tuesday questioned major tech companies Google, Facebook, and Microsoft to determine how to create a legal basis for fairness in the digital market.
Regarding suspected anti-competitive tactics, Amazon, Apple, and others. The market dominance of large IT corporations is killing Indian players and excluding other competitors, sources claimed.
One participant in the meeting responded that if the big tech majors are going to be so “non-cooperative” then they should “leave it to the limited wisdom of legislators to monitor and control in the manner as they deemed fit,” according to sources. This was in response to the big tech majors’ assertion that the Indian digital market does not need any additional regulation.
The panelists made the suggestion that they desire laws in place that is neither anti-business while still protecting consumer interests.
Top executives from the Indian subsidiaries of Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, and Uber testified in front of the panel.
Under the direction of former Union minister Jayant Sinha, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance is investigating several facets of market competition, particularly with regard to technology firms.
After the meeting, Sinha stated, “We are putting together a report for the parliamentary panel on the evolution of competition law for digital marketplaces.”
He further added that they would especially address issues relating to competitive activity and behavior, such as those involving price, platform neutrality, and the usage of data in adjacent markets and will issue a report in the first week of September.
The group has been holding a number of meetings with companies that operate in the digital marketplaces, industry associations, regulators, and ministries in order to get ready for that report.
Other countries have passed legislation governing digital markets, including Australia and Korea and thus, it becomes important for India to regulate the digital markets too.