New-look digital bill may spare startups

Centre plans to cut list of categories, and raise the thresholds

- Gireesh Chandra Prasad

The Centre may rework the digital competition bill to spare a big chunk of Indian startups from heavy regulation, two people aware of the matter said.

The draft bill had proposed bringing nine types of digital businesses under its ambit, if these businesses crossed certain thresholds of financial strength and market reach. Now, the list of businesses may be trimmed and the thresholds raised so the smaller firms can breathe easier, the people cited above said on the condition of anonymity.

The move comes a year after the corporate affairs ministry released the draft bill and the report of an expert committee that helped prepare it. The ministry has received feedback from various startups during this period.

"The need for ex-ante regulations by way of a digital competition law was confirmed by both the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance and the expert committee on digital competition law. It is very much on the table. Both the financial and market reach thresholds and the specific market segments to be covered by this statute may need to be recalibrated because the start-up ecosystem cannot be disrupted," said one of the two persons cited above.