Lok Sabha Question No. 91 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-21
Subject: Current Status of the Draft Digital Competition Bill
Ministry: CORPORATE AFFAIRS
Asked by: Shri Harish Chandra Meena, Dr. Shashi Tharoor

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 91

ANSWERED ON MONDAY, JULY 21, 2025/ ASHADHA 30, 1947 (SAKA)

Current Status of the Draft Digital Competition Bill

## QUESTION

91. Dr. Shashi Tharoor:

Shri Harish Chandra Meena:

Will the Minister of CORPORATE AFFAIRS

be pleased to state:

- (a) the current status of the Draft Digital Competition Bill and the time by which it is likely to be introduced;
- (b)  the  details  of  stakeholders  consulted  under  the  Pre-Legislative Consultation Policy;
- (c)  whether  the  Government plans to release the draft Bill for further consultations  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  if  not,  the  reasons therefor  along  with  the  steps  taken  to  maintain  a  balance  between promoting  innovation  and  regulating  the  influence  of  large  digital enterprises;
- (d) whether it is correct that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology  has  recommended  to  the  Government  that  the  ex-ante provision in the proposed draft of the Digital Competition Bill be excluded from the legislation at this stage;
- (e) whether the Government has assessed the possible effects on small enterprises especially start-ups under the proposed ex-ante regulation along with the steps taken to reduce the unexpected outcomes; and (f) the details of the safety measures proposed to mitigate the concerns of major technological firms in Rajasthan and the country?

## ANSWER

MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  CORPORATE  AFFAIRS  AND MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ROAD  TRANSPORT  AND HIGHWAYS.

(SHRI HARSH MALHOTRA)

- (a)  to  (d):  Based  on  the  recommendations  of  Parliamentary  Standing Committee  on  Finance  in  its  Fifty-Third  report  on  the  subject  'Anti-

Competitive Practices by Big-Tech Companies', the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) constituted a Committee on Digital Competition Law (CDCL). Consultations on the Draft Digital Competition Bill (DCB) were conducted in consonance with the pre- Legislative Consultation policy (PLCP) of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) as under: -

- During March 2023, CDCL held 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  eConsultation  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. The comments/inputs are awaited.

Suggestions/inputs/comments  received  from  all  stakeholders  have  been examined. Based on the suggestions/comments/inputs received, it is felt that an evidence-based foundation through market studies is required to consider  all  relevant  aspects  for  ex-ante  regulation  considering  it  is  in nascent implementational stages globally.

- (e) & (f): 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  have  been examined.

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

## Annexure-II

|   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      |