To ensure a level playing field in the digital market, a parliamentary panel on Tuesday discussed creating a legal framework for healthy competition in the space as it asked big tech majors Google, Amazon, Apple, and others over alleged anti-competitive practices.
Many members of the Parliamentary Panel on Finance interrogated the market dominance of large tech companies during the meeting, , which, they said, is driving out other competitors and killing off Indian players.
As all the big tech companies at the meeting suggested that no further regulation is needed in the Indian digital market, one member replied that if the big tech companies were going to be so uncooperative, they would need limited knowledge of it. But it should be left to regulate the MPs in how they deem fit.
Read More: Google Cloud Teams Up With Singapore To Enhance Country’s AI Capabilities
He said the panel members suggested that they want a law that is not business friendly but protects the interests of the consumers at the same time. Top executives from the Indian branches of Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, and Uber made their submissions before the panel.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, headed by former Union Minister Jayant Sinha, looks into various aspects of market competition, especially those related to technology majors.
After the meeting, Mr. Sinha said that the parliamentary panel would issue a report on the development of competition law for digital markets, which is the report they are putting together. They will specifically deal with matters relating to competitive conduct and competitive behavior, including issues relating to platform neutrality, pricing, and how data is used in adjacent markets. Sinha said the panel had held six to seven meetings and will issue a report in the first week of September.
