Big Tech vs India

All of a sudden, global tech giants are grappling with the prospect of more stringent regulation and domestic telcos' demand for a level playing field

- SURAJEET DAS GUPTA

Global Big Tech in India is being subjected to increasing scrutiny from the government, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), parliamentary committees and business lobbies, especially the telecom companies (telcos). And just like in Europe, the focus in India is similar to rein in their growing domination in the country's digital sweepstakes.

Last month, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance recommended a new digital competition law to scrutinise "systematically important digital intermediaries" that will be identified on the basis of their revenues, market capitalisation, businesses and the number of end users, putting Google, Meta, Apple Inc and even Amazon clearly in the crosshairs.

This bombshell closely follows a CCI order imposing a fine on Google for allegedly violating competition law through its Google play store policy, which gives app developers no option but to sign up through them to be present on Android devices. Apple Inc is under scrutiny by CCI on similar grounds.

The government has also upped the ante by bringing in three Bills to regulate the digital economy. The proposed telecom Bill plans to bring in OTT communications platforms such as WhatsApp, owned by Meta, under the licensing regime to ensure a "level playing field", which telcos have been demanding. The other Bills are on data privacy and a revamp of the IT Act.

Meanwhile, telcos also want Big Tech players to pay a fee and share the financial burden of running their networks on the grounds that they use most of the telcos' bandwidth to provide content to customers.