Stakeholders may provide comments on the Bill until May 15, 2024.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has granted an extension for submissions regarding the draft Digital Competition Bill and the accompanying report from the Committee on Digital Competition Law. Stakeholders now have until 15 May 2024 to provide their comments and suggestions.
The draft Digital Competition Bill draws parallels with the recently enacted Digital Markets Act in the EU. It aims to regulate the conduct of large digital platforms, addressing potential anti-competitive practices such as self-preferencing, restrictions on third-party apps, unfair data usage by businesses, and the bundling of products and services.
Key provisions of the draft bill include a staggered approach to identifying significant players, known as Systemically Significant Digital Enterprises, based on the services they offer, termed “core digital services”. The bill outlines obligations for these entities and grants powers to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to enforce compliance.
Additionally, the bill incorporates provisions regarding exemptions for enterprises, amendments to the list of core digital services, issuance of guidelines, and governmental oversight over CCI and related matters.
The genesis of the Digital Competition Bill lies in the recommendations of the Committee on Digital Competition Law, which was established following guidance from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance in December 2022.
Last year, major technology companies including Meta (banned and recognized as extremist in Russia), Amazon, Twitter and Google criticized the bill. Transplanting legislative reforms designed for a foreign jurisdiction with high digital penetration into India “could lead to disproportionate costs to consumers in India and an impact on innovation and investment by businesses in India -- especially at a time when the government is rightly focusing on bringing connectivity to all under the Digital India initiative," said the Big Techs.
Source: India Business Law Journal
