INTRODUCTION AND PRELIMINARY COMMENTS

The Indian Governance And Policy Project (IGAP) is a premier think-tank dedicated to enhancing governance and policy frameworks in India. Established to address the pressing challenges of policy implementation and institutional governance, IGAP collaborates with various stakeholders, including government bodies, academic institutions, and civil society organizations. Our mission is to foster informed policymaking through rigorous research, expert analysis, and stakeholder engagement.

We welcome the opportunity to submit our recommendations to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on the Report of the Committee on Digital Competition Law (CDCL Committee). The Committee’s insights into the dynamic nature of digital markets and the need for a robust regulatory framework resonate with IGAP’s commitment to ensuring fair competition and fostering innovation in India’s digital economy. Our recommendations aim to refine the proposed Digital Competition Bill (Draft DCB), balancing the need for regulation with the imperative to nurture India’s burgeoning digital sectors. We believe that a well-structured digital competition law will be pivotal in achieving the government’s vision of a trillion-dollar digital economy.

We note that deliberations on substantive provisions of the Draft DCB are at a preliminary stage, and phrasing of clauses may undergo significant revision in subsequent iteration of the draft bill. Further, we also note the recommendation of the CDCL Committee that ‘the specificities of the obligations as applicable to each Core Digital Service would be specified through regulations drafted by the CCI through a consultative process.’ As these regulations would have a significant operative impact on the entities regulated under the Draft DCB, it would be necessary to examine the proposed obligations on a case-by-case basis to appreciate their downstream impact on affected digital sectors. 

Nonetheless, the CDCL Committee has recommended certain ‘core principles’ in its report for digital competition, which are also incorporated within the Draft DCB. Our comments on these core recommendations are specified below:

Read the full report here.