Tricky realms of fair market in tech space
1 month, 3 weeks ago

Tricky realms of fair market in tech space

New Indian Express  

India’s anti-trust regulator has once again cracked the whip on another big tech player this time Meta, the owner of Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram. The action comes at a time when the US and European regulators are also tightening screws on these companies, which the authorities feel are a threat to data privacy, competition, and fair play in business. Big tech companies’ growing clout and influence is a big concern globally but putting a leash on them is easier said than done, especially for Indian authorities. India takes pride in the digital public infrastructure it has created, which in turn needs the support of big tech companies global or domestic. However, data privacy and security concerns add a new dimension to debate over controlling big tech companies.

India Tech Companies Big Cci Big Tech Companies  space  fair  companies  tricky  big  competition  whatsapp  data  users  market  cci  india  tech  realms  authorities

History of this topic

Privacy as priority: India can’t afford any further delay in notifying data protection rules
4 weeks, 2 days ago

Privacy as priority: India can’t afford any further delay in notifying data protection rules

Live Mint  

A few days ago, Signzy, a popular Know Your Customer verification service used by India’s top banks and fintech firms, was affected by a cyber attack that may have exposed the sensitive personal information of millions. India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act was passed six years after the Right to Privacy verdict in 2017. The Digital India Act, touted as …

EU digital competition norms offer guidance, but local norms essential: CCI
1 month ago

EU digital competition norms offer guidance, but local norms essential: CCI

Live Mint  

New Delhi: European Union's framework for regulating digital market giants offers guidance, but India needs local norms, given the differences in the make-up of the two economies and the regulatory perspectives adopted, Competition Commission of India chairperson Ravneet Kaur said on Wednesday. The regulator’s comments about the need for local solutions assume significance because unlike the EU, which implemented a …

Suggestions from over 100 entities on Digital Competition Bill under consideration: FM
1 month ago

Suggestions from over 100 entities on Digital Competition Bill under consideration: FM

Live Mint  

New Delhi: The government consulted over 100 entities including some of the businesses likely to be impacted by the proposed digital competition law, such as Amazon, Apple India Pvt. The minister told the House in a written reply that pre-legislative consultations on the Draft Digital Competition Bill were held as per the ministry of corporate affairs’ policy. Closed-door consultations were …

India’s digital public infrastructure: A catalyst for innovation and competition
1 month, 3 weeks ago

India’s digital public infrastructure: A catalyst for innovation and competition

Live Mint  

Some scholars and practitioners have argued that digital public infrastructure could lead to monopolization and stifle private innovation by creating large government-controlled platforms that overshadow private players. In India, DPI initiatives like UPI and Aadhaar are examples of the state taking a lead in technological development, enabling private-sector growth and innovation. This is precisely what DPI is designed to do—broaden …

Big Tech Practices Threaten India's Digital News Landscape: I&B Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw Calls For Urgent Policy Reforms
1 month, 3 weeks ago

Big Tech Practices Threaten India's Digital News Landscape: I&B Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw Calls For Urgent Policy Reforms

ABP News  

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw highlighted the growing challenges posed by Big Tech to credible journalism and digital media platforms. Celebrating the power of Press: upholding democracy and freedom 📍At the National Press Day event pic.twitter.com/ZSbsPDyzhP — Ashwini Vaishnaw November 16, 2024 “The rapid spread of fake news is a big threat not only to the media because it undermines trust …

Trump policy stance may look to make India favourable for Big Tech
2 months, 1 week ago

Trump policy stance may look to make India favourable for Big Tech

Live Mint  

United States president-elect Donald Trump’s pro-business, soft regulatory stance may benefit Big Tech companies such as Alphabet, Apple, Meta and Microsoft, which have faced scrutiny for their alleged anti-competitive practices under the outgoing Joe Biden administration. Lawyers and policymakers believe that Trump's stance could have a spillover effect in India as well, whose tech regulations, which greatly mirror the European …

Transforming India's Economy: The Power of Digital Public Infrastructure
2 months, 3 weeks ago

Transforming India's Economy: The Power of Digital Public Infrastructure

Live Mint  

The article highlights the importance of digitalization in transforming India's economy. It emphasizes the role of open platforms and collaboration between the public and private sectors in building a robust digital infrastructure. The government's initiatives, such as the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), demonstrate the government's commitment to fostering a digital economy.

India's EU-like antitrust law worrying technology firms
7 months ago

India's EU-like antitrust law worrying technology firms

Hindustan Times  

By Arpan Chaturvedi India's EU-like antitrust law worrying technology firms NEW DELHI, - India's proposed EU-like antitrust law will pose a fresh regulatory challenge for tech firms including Apple, Google and Meta, laying out strict compliance obligations that could affect their business models. The Indian government is currently examining a panel's February report that proposed a new "Digital Competition Bill" …

India plans to curb Google, PhonePe’s dominance in mobile payments: Report
8 months, 4 weeks ago

India plans to curb Google, PhonePe’s dominance in mobile payments: Report

The Hindu  

India’s governing body overseeing the country’s Unified Payments Interface mobile payments system is set to engage with fintech startups to develop a strategy to address the growing market dominance of companies including PhonePe and Google pay in the UPI ecosystem. The National Payments Corporation of India plans to meet executives from companies including CRED, Flipkart, Fampay, and Amazon to discuss …

Govt-appointed panel proposes bill to curb anti-competitive practices by tech giants
10 months ago

Govt-appointed panel proposes bill to curb anti-competitive practices by tech giants

Hindustan Times  

New Delhi: The Committee on Digital Competition Law, constituted by the Union ministry of corporate affairs, has proposed a legislation to curb anti-competitive business practices used by tech giants such as Amazon, Google and Facebook. In the draft bill, the committee proposed that for certain “core digital services” such as search engines, web browsers and social networking sites, the Competition …

Setting the rules in disputes over apps
10 months, 1 week ago

Setting the rules in disputes over apps

Hindustan Times  

Last week, Google delisted the apps of 10 Indian businesses from its proprietary app store. This incident, which saw some apps relisted after mediated discussions, highlights the need for a thoughtful resolution of business disputes in the digital economy, increasingly contested on the notion of “fairness”. The margins-led fight between apps and their distributors has many analogues, such as telecom …

India for digital public infra, fair competition at WTO
10 months, 2 weeks ago

India for digital public infra, fair competition at WTO

Hindustan Times  

New Delhi India wants three key issues on e-commerce to be included at the World Trade Organisation’s deliberations – using digital public infrastructure for development, disciplining unfair competition and consumer protection – while it may oppose a move by wealthy nations to perpetuate duty-free online trade by further extending a moratorium on customs duty on electronically transmitted products, two people …

’Big Tech monopolies’ a key concern for govt, says Rajeev Chandrasekhar
11 months, 1 week ago

’Big Tech monopolies’ a key concern for govt, says Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Live Mint  

Expressing concern over the monopolistic dominance of ad-tech companies like Google and Facebook, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Wednesday said the revenue-sharing model between digital news publishers and Big Tech is tilted towards the latter and has emerged as a key concern for the government. The minister, who was speaking during the Digital News …

India's Data Revolution: Unpacking the DPDPA 2023 and Ensuring Accountability
1 year, 1 month ago

India's Data Revolution: Unpacking the DPDPA 2023 and Ensuring Accountability

The Quint  

It is crucial to establish mechanisms that hold the government accountable as a data custodian, said Dr Kislay Pandey, a leading corporate lawyer of India. Specific measures need to be taken to explicitly regulate emerging technologies like AI and tapping into their potential to bolster data protection. He further said, “To ensure the efficacy of data protection and privacy regulation …

Book Excerpt | How surveillance capitalism dictates the ‘attention economy’ we are living in: Extract from Rahul Matthan’s ‘The Third Way: India’s Revolutionary Approach to Data Governance’
1 year, 2 months ago

Book Excerpt | How surveillance capitalism dictates the ‘attention economy’ we are living in: Extract from Rahul Matthan’s ‘The Third Way: India’s Revolutionary Approach to Data Governance’

The Hindu  

Technology companies are fighting each other for a share of our attention. In The Third Way: India’s Revolutionary Approach to Data Governance, technology lawyer and privacy expert Rahul Matthan presents an original view of the role technology can play in data governance. It has, as a result, assumed tremendous commercial significance, giving rise to what Shoshana Zuboff calls surveillance capitalism, …

Indian publishers getting step motherly treatment by big tech as no directions from government in place
1 year, 2 months ago

Indian publishers getting step motherly treatment by big tech as no directions from government in place

Hindustan Times  

The changing habits of information seekers regarding internet search engines call for an intervention by the Government of India as a watchdog, to ensure fair play between the content provider and the big tech companies and Meta. The issue on the table is the B2B commercial relationship between the content supplier and these big tech companies and Meta, which spread …

Data market’s future hinges on regulation
1 year, 5 months ago

Data market’s future hinges on regulation

Hindustan Times  

In 1776, when Adam Smith — arguably the most ardent champion of market economics — argued in favour of the invisible hand, there was no telephone, no broadband and no digital data coursing through cables or air waves. Several economists, including Hal Varian, the chief economist of Google, are swayed by the efficiency hypothesis while others liken data to oil …

India passes data protection legislation in Parliament. Critics fear privacy violation
1 year, 5 months ago

India passes data protection legislation in Parliament. Critics fear privacy violation

Associated Press  

NEW DELHI — Indian lawmakers Wednesday approved a data protection legislation that “seeks to better regulate big tech firms and penalize companies for data breaches” as several groups expressed concern over citizens’ privacy rights. The legislation will limit cross-border transfer of data and provide a framework for setting up a data protection authority to ensure compliance from tech companies, Information …

Panel urges govt to finalize digital competition bill
1 year, 5 months ago

Panel urges govt to finalize digital competition bill

Live Mint  

NEW DELHI : The parliamentary standing committee on finance, led by Jayant Sinha, on Thursday urged the Union government to finalise the digital competition bill at the earliest to check a slew of anti-competitive practices plaguing the digital markets. In December, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance recommended formation of Digital Competition Law, and defining Big Tech companies as Systemically Important …

India’s shield of privacy should reflect Article 21
1 year, 6 months ago

India’s shield of privacy should reflect Article 21

Live Mint  

The monsoon session of Indian Parliament will likely take up a bill framed in response to the Supreme Court ruling of 24 August 2017 that said privacy is a fundamental right. The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, a draft of which was published last year to replace an unwieldy earlier proposal, got Cabinet approval this week as part of the …

Technology was a major focus of PM Modi’s U.S. visit, yet why are U.S tech firms sceptical about digital trade with India?
1 year, 6 months ago

Technology was a major focus of PM Modi’s U.S. visit, yet why are U.S tech firms sceptical about digital trade with India?

The Hindu  

The story so far: During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s U.S. state visit, cooperation on technology emerged as a prominent talking point and yielded some of the most substantive outcomes, according to Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra. However, digital trade is also the area where some of the biggest U.S. tech companies have recently flagged multiple policy hurdles, including “India’s patently protectionist …

Regulatory force: Tech titans bow to CCI whip
1 year, 6 months ago

Regulatory force: Tech titans bow to CCI whip

Live Mint  

New Delhi: India’s technology majors are rectifying their anti-trust practices following the crackdown by Competition Commission of India. Market participants said these tech firms are exercising greater caution for arrangements that could be perceived as preferential treatment for specific entities, and addressing concerns related to self-referencing and search biases on their platforms. “The CCI orders against tech firms have sent …

DC Edit | CoWIN data leak breach of trust, must be probed
1 year, 7 months ago

DC Edit | CoWIN data leak breach of trust, must be probed

Deccan Chronicle  

Media reports of a purported breach of crucial data of most, if not all the, beneficiaries, meaning most of the Indians citizens who got vaccinated for Covid, or nearly a billion-odd people, are not only unfortunate if found to be true, but also raise a serious issue concerning the trust of all citizens sharing any data with the government across …

CCI to get more enforcement powers on Big Tech following amendment to Competition law
1 year, 9 months ago

CCI to get more enforcement powers on Big Tech following amendment to Competition law

The Hindu  

The proposed amendments, cleared by Parliament, to the Competition Act gives more powers to the Competition Commission of India in pursuing what it sees as anti-competitive behaviour. Recently, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal upheld a ₹1,337 crore fine imposed by the CCI on Google for the firm’s contracts with mobile manufacturers. The Bill, which amends the Competition Act, 2002 …

How to hold Big Tech to account
1 year, 9 months ago

How to hold Big Tech to account

Hindustan Times  

In what has been a slow session of Parliament in terms of legislative work, the Lok Sabha cleared a much-needed change to India’s competition law. The Competition Amendment Bill, 2022 seeks to tweak the 2002 competition law, which lays down important guardrails for the market in India to be fair, preventing participants from cartelising or abusing positions of dominance. The …

Western media starts its propaganda as India marches firm steps against Big Tech
1 year, 11 months ago

Western media starts its propaganda as India marches firm steps against Big Tech

Op India  

India’s priority to become self-reliant has been more evident than ever under the Narendra Modi-led government during the last nine years. The article titled ‘India push for digital sovereignty risks more online surveillance’, written by Rina Chandran of Thomson Reuters Foundation is published under the section titled ‘Analysis’; but it is nothing but subtle anti-India propaganda of the west-obsessed media …

Private quasi-regulatory entities offer digital strength
1 year, 11 months ago

Private quasi-regulatory entities offer digital strength

Live Mint  

While there is widespread support for India’s digital public infrastructure achievements, a small, articulate chorus of voices has begun to question certain aspects of the approach. In a recent paper, Smriti Parsheera, a well-regarded analyst of Indian tech policy, argued that these organizations have become “Alt Big Tech” and need to be regulated to ensure fairness and competition. The main …

CCI’s order strikes a blow at the efforts to accelerate digital adoption: Google
2 years ago

CCI’s order strikes a blow at the efforts to accelerate digital adoption: Google

The Hindu  

Google India on Friday penned down an emotional blog on the recent CCI’s ruling against it and its impact on the India’s digital adoption and Android market as a whole. “At a time when only half of India’s population is connected, the directions in the CCI’s order strikes a blow at the ecosystem-wide efforts to accelerate digital adoption in the …

Google Says Antitrust Order Will Stall Android Growth In India: Report
2 years ago

Google Says Antitrust Order Will Stall Android Growth In India: Report

ABP News  

Tech giant Google has warned that the growth of its massively popular Android ecosystem in India will stall due to an antitrust order by the Competition Commission of India that asks it to change how it markets the Android platform, the media has reported. India's antitrust watchdog had penalised the Alphabet-owned company $161 million for exploiting its dominant position in …

Mint Explainer: How to prevent the birth of digital monopolies
2 years ago

Mint Explainer: How to prevent the birth of digital monopolies

Live Mint  

A parliamentary panel has recommended ex-ante regulations for the Indian digital markets to prevent a few companies turning into large monopolies. In fact, regulations can be far broader in scope than competition laws, pushing the development of the digital ecosystem in a direction that may be seen to be socially desirable, for example, pushing companies to share data that may …

Gear up wisely to clamp down on important digital intermediaries
2 years ago

Gear up wisely to clamp down on important digital intermediaries

Live Mint  

Hard on the heels of its recommendations on the Competition Bill, 2022, India’s Standing Committee on Finance tabled its report on “anti-competitive practices by big tech companies” in the Lok Sabha on 22 December 2022. To address the unique needs of digital markets, the committee has recommended the introduction of a ‘Digital Competition Act’, which would ensure a fair, transparent …

Google Challenges CCI's Order on Alleged Unfair Practices in Android Ecosystem
2 years ago

Google Challenges CCI's Order on Alleged Unfair Practices in Android Ecosystem

News 18  

Google has approached the appellate tribunal NCLAT challenging the CCI’s order on unfair business practices in Android mobile device ecosystem, the company spokesperson said on Friday. A Google spokesperson told PTI: “We have decided to appeal the CCI’s decision on Android as we believe it presents a major setback for our Indian users and businesses who trust Android’s security features, …

India panel recommends digital competition act to rein in Big Tech
2 years ago

India panel recommends digital competition act to rein in Big Tech

The Hindu  

An Indian parliamentary panel on Thursday recommended the government enact a digital competition act to regulate anti-competitive business practices by Big Tech companies on its platforms. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has had strained relations with many large technology companies, and New Delhi has been tightening the regulation of firms such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. "The Committee recommend that …

Big Tech and the need in India for ex-ante regulation
2 years, 1 month ago

Big Tech and the need in India for ex-ante regulation

The Hindu  

The Indian anti-trust body, the Competition Commission of India ’s move, in October, to impose a penalty of ₹1,337.76 crore on Google for abusing its dominant position in the android mobile device ecosystem, has forced us, once again, to rethink the market power of Big Tech companies. The EU’s Digital Market Act and “gatekeepers” who will enforce rules and regulations …

India’s internet policy mustn’t develop Chinese characteristics
2 years, 3 months ago

India’s internet policy mustn’t develop Chinese characteristics

Live Mint  

One of the laws under which India governs its telecom industry dates back to 1885—when Alexander Graham Bell’s invention of the telephone was not even a decade old. If the colonial-era Indian Telegraph Act is hopelessly anachronistic, its proposed replacement may also be problematic: The telecom bill wants to retain sweeping powers of state surveillance and apply them even to …

Ensure equal Net privacy for Indians and others: Centre
2 years, 3 months ago

Ensure equal Net privacy for Indians and others: Centre

The Hindu  

The government on Thursday stated in the Supreme Court that it expects social media companies, however “big” they were, to treat Indian users’ privacy on a par with foreign customers. Howsoever big the MNC be, if you are operating in India, you have to comply with the laws of India and have to treat Indian citizens with an equal degree …

Why CCI matters for protecting customers from digital players
2 years, 4 months ago

Why CCI matters for protecting customers from digital players

Live Mint  

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, headed by Jayant Sinha, is only the latest to voice its concerns about potential risks from the rapid growth of the digital economy. In particular, the risks arising from the inherently anti-competitive nature of players in the digital world due to what are known as network effects, the peculiar feature that makes the value …

Technology companies wary of law on digital competition
2 years, 4 months ago

Technology companies wary of law on digital competition

The Hindu  

To tackle unfair and predatory practices in the digital market space, the Standing Committee on Finance will be submitting a report in the first week of September on how the competition law needs to evolve for the digital market. “In the first week of September, the Standing Committee on Finance will be submitting a report on the evolution of competition …

Anti-competitive practices: Apple, Google, Netflix, Amazon India executives to depose before Parliamentary panel on Tuesday
2 years, 4 months ago

Anti-competitive practices: Apple, Google, Netflix, Amazon India executives to depose before Parliamentary panel on Tuesday

The Hindu  

Top executives of the Indian arms of Apple, Google, Amazon, Netflix and Microsoft will on August 23 depose before a parliamentary panel looking into anti-competitive practices in the digital space, the committee’s chairman Jayant Sinha said. According to a notice issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, the agenda of the meeting is “Oral evidence of the representatives of big tech …

Anti-competitive practices: Apple, Google, Netflix, Amazon India execs to depose before Parliamentary panel
2 years, 4 months ago

Anti-competitive practices: Apple, Google, Netflix, Amazon India execs to depose before Parliamentary panel

India TV News  

Top executives of the Indian arms of Apple, Google, Amazon, Netflix and Microsoft will on Tuesday depose before a parliamentary panel looking into anti-competitive practices in the digital space, the committee's chairman Jayant Sinha said. "Representatives of Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Netflix, from their Indian arms and a few others will appear before the parliamentary panel on the issue of …

Why is there a growing unease between the govt and Big Tech in India?
2 years, 6 months ago

Why is there a growing unease between the govt and Big Tech in India?

Business Standard  

The confrontation between big tech companies and the Indian government over the country’s new IT rules escalated on Tuesday after Twitter moved the Karnataka High Court challenging the IT ministry’s order to remove content and block multiple accounts on the US microblogging platform. Twitter would risk losing its safe harbour protection under the intermediary rules if it refuses to comply …

ONDC: Why is govt betting big and how it will democratise India's e-commerce landscape
2 years, 6 months ago

ONDC: Why is govt betting big and how it will democratise India's e-commerce landscape

India TV News  

With an aim to digitise the value chain, standardise operations, promote inclusion of suppliers and enhance value for consumers, the government recently launched an initiative -- Open Network for Digital Commerce. This platform intends to create opportunities, reduce digital monopolies and help MSME and small traders get on digital platforms where businesses and consumers will be capable of carrying out …

Public-private cooperation: A key pillar in creating a cyber-secure India
2 years, 7 months ago

Public-private cooperation: A key pillar in creating a cyber-secure India

Hindustan Times  

Recently, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team housed within the ministry of electronics and information technology issued guidelines for cybersecurity, under Section 70-B of the Information Technology Act. The stated goal is to “augment and strengthen the cybersecurity in the country” and “coordinate response activities as well as emergency measures with respect to cybersecurity incidents.” The guidelines, among other things, …

Competition law in digital space: Exclusionary conduct by tech conglomerates
2 years, 7 months ago

Competition law in digital space: Exclusionary conduct by tech conglomerates

Hindustan Times  

The last few decades have witnessed a rise in the use and accumulation of data, often called ‘the oil of the 21st century’. This brief discusses India’s antitrust laws and regulations in the digital space, focusing on the Competition Commission of India and the Indian Competition Act, 2002. Using the actions of Google and Microsoft as case studies, it examines …

Digital markets must be defined well for competition regulation
2 years, 7 months ago

Digital markets must be defined well for competition regulation

Live Mint  

The rise of the digital sector has presented unique challenges for Indian regulatory authorities, including the Competition Commission of India, thanks to significant differences in the way such markets operate compared to traditional markets. The CCI’s approach so far: Until 2016, while defining a ‘relevant market’ for e-commerce companies and marketplaces, the CCI viewed online and offline segments as different …

India’s e-belt-and-road initiative for digital diplomacy
2 years, 8 months ago

India’s e-belt-and-road initiative for digital diplomacy

Live Mint  

As of 2021, India had issued more than 1.3 billion digital identity cards via its Aadhaar platform and over 1.1 billion digital vaccine certificates through its CoWin platform. Aadhaar’s open architecture that allows for scalability and vendor neutrality has already had several countries approaching India to either replicate the model or take note of its technology to develop their own …

CCI set to investigate Google after digital news publishers allege abuse of dominance in ad revenue share
3 years ago

CCI set to investigate Google after digital news publishers allege abuse of dominance in ad revenue share

Op India  

Fair Trade regulator Competition Council of India has decided to initiate a probe against tech Giant Google. This came after a complaint filed by The Digital Publishers Association claiming that Google was abusing its position as a dominant player in news aggregation by imposing unfair conditions on news publishers. In a 21-page initial order, The CCI said, “In a well-functioning …

Is Google facing less scrutiny in India than Facebook?
3 years, 1 month ago

Is Google facing less scrutiny in India than Facebook?

Business Standard  

The Indian subsidiaries of two of the largest digital ad behemoths, Google and Meta Platforms, have reported their results for the last fiscal. Meta’s Indian unit Facebook India Online Services saw its gross advertising revenue grow 41% to Rs 9,321 crore as the pandemic boosted the growth for digital ad platforms. Digital marketing has become a centrepiece in the growth …

Second Opinion: How governments are coming for Big Tech
3 years, 3 months ago

Second Opinion: How governments are coming for Big Tech

LA Times  

Demonstrators protesting the military takeover of Myanmar flash the three-fingered symbol of resistance in Yangon, Myanmar, on April 4. Electoral disputes have led officials to shut off internet service, censor social media platforms and digital news outlets, and physically assault internet users. Set against the backdrop of an 11-year decline in global internet freedom and a 15-year decline in overall …

Discover Related