Digital Competition Bill

India’s Digital Competition Act is in the works amid growing concern among policymakers about the dominance of tech giants in the digital economy, and the need to ensure a level playing field for all players, including startups in the market.

• As per the order, the committee will “review whether existing provisions in the Competition Act, 2000 and rules and regulations, framed thereunder are sufficient to deal with the challenges that have emerged from the digital economy”.
• It will also examine the need for an ex-ante regulatory mechanism for digital markets through a separate legislation and study the practices of “systemically important digital intermediaries” which “limit or have the potential to cause harm in digital markets”.
• Some of the provisions impose certain “behavioural norms” on digital economy firms.
• The proposed law aims to prevent what is seen as anticompetitive behaviour. These include lack of neutrality of online retailing platforms that also sell their own products, limiting of consumer choice by bundling products and services, predatory pricing, preventing users of digital platforms from accessing third part applications and exclusive tie-ups that limit market access for business users of digital platforms.