India's digital protection bill promotes competition and user interests

livemint.com:

₹1,338 crores and ₹936 crores on Google for abuse of its dominant position in the Android mobile devices ecosystem and its play store and in-app payments, respectively. These penalties reflect growing concerns about Big Tech’s market power and its impact on competition and consumer choice. The draft digital competition law sets specific criteria for determining which enterprises qualify as SSDEs.

These include user thresholds (core digital service provided by the enterprise has at least 1 crore end-users or at least 10,000 business users) and financial thresholds (turnover in India of not less than ₹4,000 crore, or global turnover of not less than $30 billion). By focusing regulatory scrutiny on Big Tech meeting these thresholds, the draft law effectively targets entities that wield substantial influence in the digital ecosystem, but without unduly burdening smaller players. This targeted approach enhances the effectiveness and fairness of the regulatory framework.

At the heart of the draft digital competition law’s recommendations lies the principle of ensuring user choice and promoting a level-playing field. Currently, Big Tech often dictates which apps users can access on their platforms. This stifles competition and limits consumer choice.

Users are confined to a narrow selection of apps and services pre-approved by technology platforms. This creates market conditions for duopolies, with dominant players deciding the rules. By mandating the freedom for users to integrate third-party apps into Core Digital Services, the draft law seeks to break this cycle.