Rein in Big Tech’s ad business, panel tells government

 A parliamentary panel has asked the government to enact digital competition legislation to make sure a transparent and fair ecosystem India. The panel wants the government to keep a watch on the anti-competitive behaviour in digital markets and take necessary actions.

The standing committee on finance submitted its report, Anti-Competitive Practices by Big Tech Companies, which was introduced in parliament the other day. The report finds that the Big Tech’s ad business is a monopolist threat as it owns “every step in a system that connects ad sellers and buyers and give the Big Tech companies an unfair edge over the market.”

The report urges the government to ensure better competition law and the strengthen the Competition Commission of India (CCI) with a specialised digital markets unit to restrain anti-competitive behaviour in digital markets.

According to he committee, competition behaviour “needs to be evaluated ex ante before markets end up monopolised instead of the ex post evaluation being carried out at present.” The pabel has proposed a framework for systemically important digital intermediaries (SIDIs).

The committee, while suggesting the regulation of leading players or market leaders whose activities can negatively influence competition in the digital ecosystem, wants the government to evaluate competitive behaviour to to make sure fair markets.

The committee has found 10 major competition issues; they include: search and rank preferencing, third-party applications, exclusive tie-ups, deep discounting, steering, advertising policies, etc.

The report also warns the dangers of selling bundled products or processing of personal data of users for purposes of advertisement.

Platforms, according to the report, should exercise neutrality without ever indulging in self-preferencing, says the report.
The committee says that that platform neutrality “must be ensured at all costs as otherwise it can lead to a negative effect on downstream markets, as their profits decline and an unfair advantage is provided to the leading platform i.e. the platform itself.”

“India has diverse and numerous news publishers who get advertising revenue primarily through SIDIs and are of the opinion that regulatory provisions are required to ensure that news publishers are able to establish contracts with these SIDIs through a fair and transparent process,” says the report .