Lok Sabha Question No. 230 (STARRED), answered on 2025-03-17
Subject: Status of Draft Digital Competition Bill
Ministry: CORPORATE AFFAIRS
Asked by: Shri Balwant Baswant Wankhade, Dr. Kalyan Vaijinathrao Kale

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. 230

ANSWERED ON MONDAY, MARCH 17, 2025/ Phalguna 26, 1946 (Saka)

Status of Draft Digital Competition Bill

## QUESTION

230.   Shri Balwant Baswant Wankhade: Dr. Kalyan Vaijinathrao Kale:

Will the Minister of CORPORATE AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government proposes to introduce a Digital Competition Law to prevent possible monopoly and unfair trade practices of large companies in the digital economy;
- (b) the current status of deliberations on the proposed Digital Competition Law and the time by which it is likely to be implemented along with the details of stakeholders consulted;
- (c) whether the Government has any plans to release Draft Bill for further consultation  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  if  not,  the  reasons therefor;
- (d) the measures being taken to ensure that the proposed law effectively balances  promotion  of  innovation  with  regulating  the  dominant positions of large digital players;
- (e) whether the Government has assessed the potential impact of the proposed ex-ante framework on smaller players including start-ups and the steps being taken to mitigate any unintended consequences;
- (f) whether it is correct that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology  has  recommended  that  the  ex-ante  provision  in  the proposed draft of the Digital Competition Bill be excluded from the legislation at this stage; and
- (g) the safeguards/measures being considered to address the concerns of major technology firms while ensuring a level playing field for all participants in the digital ecosystem?

## ANSWER

(SHRIMATI NIRMALA SITHARAMAN)

THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND CORPORATE AFFAIRS

(a) to (g) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

*****

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  PARTS  (a)  to  (g)  OF  LOK  SABHA  STARRED QUESTION NO. 230 FOR 17.03.2025 REGARDING STATUS OF DRAFT DIGITAL COMPETITION BILL

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- (a)  to  (c):  Based  on  the  recommendations  of  Parliamentary  Standing Committee  on  Finance  in  its  Fifty-Third report on the subject 'AntiCompetitive  Practices  by  Big-Tech  Companies',  the  Ministry  of  Corporate Affairs (MCA) constituted a Committee on Digital Competition Law (CDCL).
- During  March  2023,  CDCL  held  closed-door  consultations  with entities  and  stakeholders  likely  to  be  impacted  by  the  proposed  law including industry associations, domestic and foreign digital enterprises and think-tanks etc. List of stakeholders is placed at Annexure-I.
- Post  consultation,  CDCL  submitted  its  report  in  February  2024 along with a draft Digital Competition Bill (DCB).
- Report of the Committee on Digital Competition Law (CDCL) along with  Draft  DCB  was  placed  on  MCA  website  under  the  e-Consultation mode  from  March  12-  May  15,  2024.  More  than  100  stakeholders submitted responses, ranging from legal professionals, industry associations, civil society organisations, and domestic & foreign digital enterprises  providing  digital  services  in  India.  List  of  stakeholders  is placed at Annexure-II.
- Additionally, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY)  organized  stakeholder  discussions  between  18.06.2024  to 20.06.2024.

Suggestions/inputs/comments  received  from  all  stakeholders  are  being examined.

- (d),  (e)  and  (g):  The  CDCL  held  consultations  with  key  stakeholders  and examined both the domestic legal framework and the international regulatory practices for regulation of digital services. Subsequently, during the formulation of the draft DCB, consultations were held with several representatives  from  trade  and  industry  associations  of  small  businesses, think tanks and major tech firms to seek their views/comments.

Suggestions/inputs/comments  received  from  all  stakeholders  are  being examined.

- (f) Pursuant  to  the  stakeholders  discussions  organised  by  MeiTY,  the comments/inputs are awaited.
1. Amazon
2. Apple India Private Ltd.
3. Bundl Technologies Pvt Ltd. & Swiggy
4. Centre for the Digital future
5. Flipkart
6. Google
7. India Cellular and Electronics Association
8. Internet and Mobile Association of India
9. Meta (Facebook)
10. Oyo
11. Uber
12. USIBC
13. Zomato
14. All India Gaming Federation
15. Alliance of Digital India Foundation
16. Artha Global
17. Asia Travel Technology Industry Association
18. AZB & Partners
19. Confederation of All India Traders
20. Digital News Publishers Association
21. Esya Centre
22. Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India
23. Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations
24. MakeMyTrip
25. Newspaper Association of India
26. National Restaurant Association of India
27. NASSCOM
28. Paytm
29. Twitter.

## Annexure-I

|   S. NO. | NAME OF STAKEHOLDER                                             |
|----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Niti Aayog                                                      |
|        2 | FIRST India                                                     |
|        3 | CCAOI                                                           |
|        4 | Swiggy                                                          |
|        5 | American Bar Association                                        |
|        6 | E-Gaming Federation                                             |
|        7 | US-India Business Council (USIBC)                               |
|        8 | India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA)               |
|        9 | Skyscanner                                                      |
|       10 | ASSOCHAM                                                        |
|       11 | US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF)                   |
|       12 | Match Group                                                     |
|       13 | Founders and Investors of the Indian Digital Startup Ecosystem  |
|       14 | Indian Governance and Policy Project (IGAP)                     |
|       15 | Play Games24*7 Private Limited                                  |
|       16 | Nasscom                                                         |
|       17 | Luthra and Luthra Law Offices India                             |
|       18 | Tech Freedom                                                    |
|       19 | All India Gaming Federation (AIGF)                              |
|       20 | India Regulatory Practices Group LLP (IRPG)                     |
|       21 | Meta Platforms Inc.                                             |
|       22 | Civis                                                           |
|       23 | Shilpi Bhattacharya, Professor, Jindal Global Law School (JGLS) |
|       24 | Centre for Competition Law and Economics (CCLE)                 |
|       25 | Amazon India                                                    |

|   26. | India MART                                                                                         |
|-------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|    27 | Airtel                                                                                             |
|    28 | ACCESS Now                                                                                         |
|    29 | International Bar Association (IBA)                                                                |
|    30 | Broadband India Forum (BIF)                                                                        |
|    31 | Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation(IBDF) & Indian Digital Media Industry Foundation(IDMIF) |
|    32 | Coalition for App Fairness (CAF)                                                                   |
|    33 | OLA Electric                                                                                       |
|    34 | The Dialogue                                                                                       |
|    35 | Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF)                                                                  |
|    36 | International Center for Law & Economics                                                           |
|    37 | Motion Picture Dist. Association (India) Private Limited (MPA)                                     |
|    38 | Indian Chamber of Commerce(ICC)                                                                    |
|    39 | PRS Legislative Research                                                                           |
|    40 | EBC Publishing Private Limited and SCC Online                                                      |
|    41 | MakeMyTrip India Private Limited                                                                   |
|    42 | Alliance of Digital India Foundation( ADIF)                                                        |
|    43 | MAIT                                                                                               |
|    44 | TATA Digital                                                                                       |
|    45 | Progressive Policy Institute (PPI)                                                                 |
|    46 | PhonePe Private Limited                                                                            |
|    47 | Trilegal                                                                                           |
|    48 | Netflix                                                                                            |
|    49 | Zomato                                                                                             |
|    50 | Google                                                                                             |
|    51 | National Law Institute University, Bhopal                                                          |
|    52 | National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI)                                                    |

| 53.                                                  | India Tech.Org                                                                                                                     |
|------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 54.                                                  | Induslaw                                                                                                                           |
| 55.                                                  | Digital News Publishers Association(DNPA)                                                                                          |
| 56.                                                  | Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC)                                                                                                 |
| 57.                                                  | Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI)                                                                                   |
| 58.                                                  | Hindustan Unilever Limited                                                                                                         |
| 59.                                                  | Koan Advisory Group                                                                                                                |
| 60.                                                  | ESYA Centre                                                                                                                        |
| 61.                                                  | PROSUS                                                                                                                             |
| 62.                                                  | CUTS international                                                                                                                 |
| 63.                                                  | DeepStrat Pvt Ltd                                                                                                                  |
| 64.                                                  | FICCI                                                                                                                              |
| 65. Information Technology and Innovation Foundation | (ITIF)                                                                                                                             |
| 66.                                                  | (ACT)The App Association                                                                                                           |
| 67.                                                  | Anupam Sanghi & Associates (ASA)                                                                                                   |
| 68.                                                  | Asia Internet Coalition (AIC)                                                                                                      |
| 69.                                                  | Asia Travel Technology Industry Association (ATTIA)                                                                                |
| 70.                                                  | Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA)                                                                              |
| 71.                                                  | Indian Music Industry (IMI)                                                                                                        |
| 72.                                                  | Microsoft                                                                                                                          |
| 73.                                                  | Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)                                                                                             |
| 74.                                                  | DMD Advocates                                                                                                                      |
| 75.                                                  | All India Chartered Accountant Society (AICAS)                                                                                     |
| 76.                                                  | Economists at Compass Lexicon (Justin Coombs, Kadambari Prasad, Neha Georgie) and FTI Consulting (Avinash Mehrotra, Jincy Francis) |
| 77.                                                  | Centre for Internet and Society (CIS)                                                                                              |
| 78.                                                  | Sidharth Chauhan, Associate Professor and Associate Dean, Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University                  |
| 79.                                                  | BTG Advaya                                                                                                                         |

| 80.   | Rishab Bailey and IT for Change                      |
|-------|------------------------------------------------------|
| 81.   | DSK Legal- Advocates and Solicitors                  |
| 82.   | Truecaller                                           |
| 83.   | Dynamic Competition Initiative (DCI)                 |
| 84.   | Touchstone Partners                                  |
| 85.   | Economic Laws Practice (ELP)                         |
| 86.   | Data Security Council of India (DSCI)                |
| 87.   | Uber                                                 |
| 88.   | Nabin Jain                                           |
| 89.   | Ruchika Gambhir(Researcher)                          |
| 90.   | Abhivardhan (Indic Pacific Legal Research)           |
| 91.   | Rashmi Baranwal(Professional)                        |
| 92.   | Abhishek Murukate                                    |
| 93.   | Vikas Kathuria(Researcher)                           |
| 94.   | Jayshree Chandra(Professional)                       |
|       | 95. Amey Kantak(Researcher)                          |
| 96.   | Iqra Jabeen Ansari(LTIM)                             |
| 97.   | Pankhudi Khandelwal (Dynamin Competition Initiative) |
| 98.   | Blaise Fernandes(Indian Music Industry)              |
| 99.   | Jasleen Kaur(Professional)                           |
| 100.  | Murugavel Janakiraman (Matrimony.com)                |
| 101.  | Ajay Kamath (Kamath Legal)                           |
| 102.  | Akanksha G(Researcher)                               |
| 103.  | Neil Bhutani (Dawesco LLP)                           |
| 104.  | Vivek Agarwal                                        |
| 105.  | AMCHAM INDIA                                         |
| 106.  | People Group/Shaadi.com and others                   |