Is the Draft Digital Competition Bill too restrictive?

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has put out a draft Digital Competition Bill to regulate anti-competitive practices in the digital space. The Bill has provisions for identifying Systemically Significant Digital Enterprises (SSDEs) – basically large digital platforms. These would then be subject to certain restrictions aimed at preventing anti-competitive conduct. For instance, they would be forbidden from practices such as self-preferencing, anti-steering, etc.

While the Bill seems well-intentioned, various stakeholders have expressed concerns that it is far too invasive and could stifle innovation, undermine the interests of Indian tech companies, including MSMEs, and make consumers more vulnerable to cyber fraud.

Are these concerns valid? What has been the experience with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), on which this Bill seems modelled? And what changes are needed to allay the concerns raised so far?

G. Sampath is joined by Meghna Bal, Director, Esya Centre, New Delhi.

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