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The Standing Committee on Finance headed by BJP MP Jayant Sinha has asked the government to apprise it of the findings of the Ministry of Company Affairs (MCA)-appointed committee on digital competition law at the earliest.
The tenure of this 16-member, inter-ministerial Digital Competition Law Panel — set up on February 6 – has already been extended thrice and the committee is now on the verge of finalising its report and firming up a draft of the proposed Digital Competition Law. The panel was originally required to complete its work by May 6.
In its 60th report, tabled in Lok Sabha by Sinha on Thursday, the Standing Committee on Finance has urged the panel to focus on the 10 Anti-Competitive Practices (ACPs) identified by the Parliamentary Panel.
These ACPs are anti-steering provisions; platform neutrality/self preferencing; bundling and tying; data usage; mergers and acquisitions; pricing/deep discounting; exclusive tie-ups; search and ranking preferencing; restricting third-party applications and advertising policies.
The standing committee has asked the Committee on Digital Competition Law to study these 10 ACPs and suggest changes in Competition Law, rules and regulations to ensure market efficiency and fair competitive conduct.
“In the context of digital markets, the committee feels that ex-ante evaluation is of the essence to ensure markets don’t end up monopolised,” the standing committee said in its latest report. Currently, ex-post evaluation is being undertaken by CCI — after the anti-competitive conduct has been established.
The Standing Committee on Finance has, in its latest report, highlighted that the government has accepted all its recommendations/observations (14 in total) in its original report on “Anti-competitive Practices by Big Tech Companies,” which was tabled in Lok Sabha on December 22 last year.
Digital markets and Data unit
It has also highlighted that Digital Markets and Data Unit (DMDU) holds significant importance going forth in the future, as digital markets display characteristics distinct from traditional markets. Hence, it is of utmost importance that they are properly governed to curb the sharp “tipping” of markets leading to emergence of one or two leading players in a short span of time.
“The committee urges and highlights upon the importance of making DMDU, as a robust outfit staffed with skilled experts to help the Competition Commission of India closely monitor and anticipate movements of SIDIs,” the standing committee said.
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