Parliamentary panel grills tech cos, mulls framework for fair competition
New Delhi, August 23
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, led by former Union Minister Jayant Sinha, on Tuesday heard Indian representatives of tech giants, including Amazon, Apple and Google, and argued for a law to ensure fair and level-playing field in the midst of the growing anti-competitive trends.
The panel members are learnt to have red-flagged complete dominance of some technology firms in the sector, thereby breaking the back of Indian players and skewing the field.
The majority of the committee members batted for a law to ensure a level-playing field, something that encourages healthy trade practices while being business friendly.
A legal and regulatory framework was something the panel favoured even though the representatives of big tech firms said no fresh laws were needed in the Indian digital space.
Sources said executives of the Indian arms of Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Netflix and Uber deposed before the panel.
Later, Sinha said, “We will specifically deal with matters related to competitive conduct and competitive behaviour, which will include issues related to pricing, platform neutrality, and how data is used in the adjacent markets. The panel has held six to seven meetings and will draft its report in the first week of September.”
Killing Indian players
Panelists question market dominance of firms like Google, Amazon, Apple, saying this is precluding other competitors and killing Indian players.
