Lok Sabha Question No. 301 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-02-05
Subject: Digital Competition Law
Ministry: CORPORATE AFFAIRS
Asked by: S. Jagathrakshakan, T. R. Paarivendhar

## MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 301

ANSWERED ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2024/MAGHA 16, 1945 (Saka)

## DIGITAL COMPETITION LAW QUESTION

301.   SHRI S. JAGATHRAKSHAKAN: DR. T.R. PAARIVENDHAR:

Will the Minister of CORPORATE AFFAIRS

be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government agrees with the view that self-regulation and agility in the Digital  Competition  Law  must  be  encouraged  and  has  made  any  special  efforts  to encourage and enable all corporates/companies to adopt best practices/methods to enable them in evolving digital markets to adhere to this Law; and
- (b)  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  steps  taken  or  proposed  to  be  taken  by  the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION; MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF  THE  MINISTRY  OF  PLANNING  AND  MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS.                                                                    (RAO INDERJIT SINGH)

- (a) & (b):  The Competition Commission of India (CCI), under its advocacy mandate, issues self-regulation advisories to stakeholders, where it is deemed necessary, based on its market study findings. In the digital space, self-regulation advisories have been issued in two sectors, namely, e-commerce sector and cab-aggregator industry.

A market study on e-commerce in India  was commissioned  by the CCI with a  view  to  better  understand  the  functioning  of  e-commerce  in  India  and  its implications  for  markets  and  competition.  The  objective  was  also  to  identify impediments to competition, if any, emerging from e-commerce and to ascertain the Commission's en forcement and advocacy priorities in light of the same. The report enumerated certain areas for self-regulation by the e-commerce marketplace platforms. The Commission under its advocacy mandate urged the ecommerce  platforms  to  put  in  place  transparency  measures  such  as  search ranking, collection, use and sharing of data, user review and rating mechanism, revision in contract terms, transparent discount policy etc. CCI has also conducted a market study, through the study partner to analyse competition  and  regulatory  issues  pertaining  to  online  Cab  Aggregators,  with special reference to their policy of 'surge pricing'. Based on the recommendations of  the  Study,  CCI,  as  part  of  its  advocacy  mandate,  issued  advisory  to  cab aggregators to adopt self-regulatory measures, to address information asymmetry and transparency concerns. Further, on the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance on Anti-Competitive Practices by Big Tech Companies, the Government of  India  has  constituted  a  Committee  on  Digital  Competition  Law  (CDCL)  on 06.02.2023  to  examine  the  need  for  a  separate  law  on  competition  in  digital markets.  The  Terms  of  Reference  (ToR)  of  the  CDCL,  inter-alia,  include,  (a)  to review whether existing provisions in the Competition Act, 2002, and the Rules and Regulations framed thereunder are sufficient to deal with the challenges that have emerged from the digital economy; (b) to examine the need for an ex-ante regulatory mechanism for digital markets through a separate legislation; (c) to study the international best practices on regulation in the field of digital markets; (d)  to  study  other  regulatory  regimes/  institutional  mechanisms/  government policies  regarding  competition  in  digital  markets;  (e)  to  study  the  practices  of leading players/ Systemically Important Digital Intermediaries ( ' SIDIs ' ) which limit or have the potential to cause harm in digital markets; and (f) any other matters related to competition in digital markets as may be considered relevant by the Committee.

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