Rethink on Digital Competition Bill: USIBC

New Delhi, May 28: A U.S. lobby group represe-nting tech giants Google, Amazon and Apple has asked India to rethink its proposed EU-like competition law, arguing regulations against data use and preferential treatment of partners could raise user costs, a letter shows.

Citing increasing market power of a few big digital companies in India, a government panel in February proposed imposing obligations on them under a new antitrust law which will complement existing regulations whose enforcement the panel said is time-consuming.

India’s “Digital Competition Bill” is on the lines of EU’s landmark Digital Markets Act 2022. It will apply to big firms, including those with a global turnover of over $30 bn and whose digital services have at least 10 million users locally, bringing the world’s biggest tech firms under its ambit.

It proposes to prohibit companies from exploiting non-public data of its users and promoting their own services over rivals, and also abolish restrictions on downloading of third-party apps.

Companies deploy these strategies to launch new product features and boost security for users, and curbing them will hit their plans, the U.S.-India

Business Council (USIBC), part of the U.S. chamber of commerce, said in a letter to India’s corporate affairs ministry.

The draft Indian law is much further in scope than the EU’s, says the letter, which has not been made public. “Targeted companies are likely to reduce investment in India, pass on increased prices for digital services, and reduce the range of services,” it says.