Online firms tell Parliament panel to protect domestic innovation

The thresholds for the ex ante (preventative) regulations under the Draft Digital Competition Bill should be increased in a manner that protects the domestic startups and innovation; the Indian online startups and tech product companies have told a parliamentary panel, according to sources.

- Ruchika Chitravanshi & Shivani Shinde

The panel is looking into the role of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in an evolving economy, particularly the digital landscape. Sources said that the committee has sought the views of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) on the suggestions made by some of the Indian online players.

The ex ante regulations for the draft Digital Competition Bill (DCB) were prepared by the expert committee led by then secretary of corporate affairs ministry Manoj Govil in March 2024. The DCB provisions set quantitative and qualitative criteria for systemically significant digital enterprises (SSDEs), such as turnover in India of not less than ₹4,000 crore or global turnover of not less than $30 billion. The other criteria includes gross merchandise value in India of not less than ₹16,000 crore, global market capitalization of not less than $75 billion. It also says if the core digital service provided by the enterprise has at least one crore end users or 10,000 business users, it would be a SSDE.