Indian internet firms accuse IAMAI of favouring Big Tech

The rift between internet firms and the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) deepens as the former accuse the tech industry body of favoring Big Tech companies on various issues.

The local startups allege that IAMAI has become the "mouthpiece of Big Tech," and are calling for a change in leadership or disregarding the grouping altogether.
Indian founders claim that IAMAI did not support domestic companies on crucial tech policy matters and remained silent when startups were opposing Google's in-app purchase billing system.
The executive council of IAMAI, currently chaired by Sanjay Gupta, country head and vice president of Google, and vice-chaired by Shivnath Thukral, public policy director of India at WhatsApp Inc, is at the heart of the industry body's alleged pro-Big Tech stance.
This is not the first time that Indian internet companies have had issues with IAMAI, as in 2017, a group of tech startups formed a new organisation, IndiaTech.org, to lobby for local startups. In February 2021, online gaming companies, who are members of IAMAI, had written to the IT ministry opposing views submitted by the body on new rules for the sector.