A parliamentary panel on Tuesday grilled big tech firms including Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Netflix and Uber over alleged anti-competitive practices. According to a report, the panel discussed a legal framework to ensure fair competition in the country. The move comes soon after the European Union passed the Digital Markets Act, which will come into force from next year. Last month, the parliamentary panel had earlier questioned representatives of eight firms including Zomato, Swiggy, Flipkart and MakeMyTrip.
According to a PTI report, members of the parliamentary panel led by Union Minister Jayant Sinha had suggested that they want a law that “is not business friendly, but at the same time protects the interests of consumers”.
The panel also suggested that major tech firms “should leave it to the limited knowledge of lawmakers to regulate them the way they see fit,” with the firms suggesting that no additional regulation was needed, according to the report.
Among the delegates present at Tuesday’s hearing were Manish Tewari, Country Manager, Consumer Business, Amazon India; and Apple India Managing Director Strategy and Policy, Virat Bhatia. Facebook India Head of Public Policy Rajiv Agarwal; Google India Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy Archana Gulati; Ambika Khurana, Head of Indian Policy, Director, Netflix India; Samiran Gupta, Senior Director Public Policy, Twitter India; According to the report, Uber India and South Asia President Prabhjit Singh were the other representatives who presented their stand before the panel.
The panel is working on a report – expected in the first week of September – on the development of a competition law for digital markets that will specifically deal with matters relating to competitive conduct and competitive behaviour, the minister reportedly said after the meeting. The panel will also study issues related to pricing, platform neutrality, and how data is used in adjacent markets.
The minister also said that the report would consider the unique circumstances of the country, but would “in-depth examination and consideration of competition law relating to digital markets around the world”. Last month, the European Union passed the Digital Markets Act, a set of landmark rules designed to govern tech giants including Google, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft.
