India and Silicon Valley to Spar in 2023! Thanks to the Proposed Rules

India and Silicon Valley will indulge in a tough battle for control over the world's 2^nd largest Digital Market

Big-tech companies! They seem like carrying a savior-like air with them but not until you understand what havoc they are wrecking on people's lives. Governments the world over have realized how they are playing the governments themselves wielding unimaginable power in more ways than one. Following the trend set by countries like USA and the EU, India has recently initiated the much-awaited steps in checking the overwhelming authority the American Big-Tech companies have on the business community per se. On December 22^nd an Indian Parliamentary panel recommended enacting a digital competition act with an aim to bring anti-competitive practices by Big-Tech companies under control. India being the second largest internet market, will the proposed rules, if implemented go down well with the big players? Definitely not. India and Silicon Valley will be at cross swords.

Committee's Recommendations

The panel recommended for preventing tech platforms from promoting in-house brands which essentially involves blocking third-party payment systems, deep discounting, and exclusive-tieups. In its report, the finance committee said, Systemically Important Digital Intermediary or SIDIs "should not limit business users from differentiating commercial conditions on its platform, including price, increased commissions, de­listing, and other equivalent terms and conditions." It also recommended tweaking policy making SIDIs submit a detailed report on their compliance with mandatory obligations. To bring major changes to data privacy policies, it suggested stopping companies from scraping personal data from core services, service providers, or third-party services.

Does it Mean Big-Tech Companies Will Align?

Indian Government, particularly under the leadership of Narendra Modi had a sour relationship with big technologies companies as it is constantly attempting to tighten its noose around. In the past Google and Apple have faced scrutiny from the competition watchdog Competition Commission of India over alleged violations of the application market. E-Commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart are also facing accusations of anti-competitive practices like promoting preferred sellers or giving priority to select businesses in listings.

Nonetheless, this time the business class has happily welcomed the move possibly due to loosely framed data localization requirements, experts believe that making them fall in line is an impossible task. Google is currently engaged with Indian Government in a fierce legal battle over allegations of abusing its position as the dominant player in the android segment. Indian Governments should expect more such cases of resistance to come up both in terms of the way language is used in framing policies or taking aggressive routes in courts.