Being inspired by the European Union’s Digital Marketers Act, India has come up with a draft of the Digital Competition Bill to stop tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Apple, and others from dominating the market through anti-competitive practices.
The draft of the Digital Competition Bill aims to prevent giants like Google from taking anti-competitive measures
According to a report by The Indian Express, the draft of the Digital Competition Bill includes provisions aimed at preventing major corporations from engaging in practices that could lead to monopolistic dominance in the market.
The draft also promises to impose “heavy penalties” for violations of the act. The amount could be in billions of dollars, possibly a significant percentage of the company’s turnover.
Reportedly, the Digital Competition Bill is similar to the EU’s DMA, which came into complete effect last year and requires tech giants like Google and Apple to open their services to their competitors. You might have already heard about Apple’s web distribution of apps in the EU. India’s Digital Competition Bill could also require the companies to take similar steps in the country.
The Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology will hold a meeting on June 18 with tech giants to address “serious concerns” and consider the interests of all parties involved.
The draft faces criticism from tech companies
Just like what we are seeing with the EU’s DMA, tech giants could have to face a significant compliance burden in yet another region. As you may already expect, the bill has faced resistance from both tech companies and industry bodies funded by them.
As a result, the tech giants are seeking changes to strengthen the current competition law rather than moving to the newly proposed bill. For example, an industry executive told The Indian Express that because of the strict requirements of the EU’s DMA, there has been a 4,000 percent increase in the time it takes to find things via Google search.
If the bill comes into effect, Apple will have to allow iPhone users to download apps from third-party sources alongside its App Store. Google also prioritizes its own app store for app downloads citing security risks of sideloading, even if Android allows it.