Ms. Jyoti Jindgar Bhanot, Secretary (I/c), CCI, spoke at the conference on “Competition and Big Tech” about the Commission's approach to regulating digital markets.
Early intervention is a key to ensure that competitive landscape in digital markets is not distorted beyond repair, said Ms. Jyoti Jindgar Bhanot during the conference on “Competition and Big Tech”, organized jointly by the International BRICSCompetition Law and Policy Centre, CUTS International, and the Institute for Regulation and Competition (CIRC).
In the digital space, and particularly in the platform markets, tipping off the market can happen at a pace unimaginable from the perspective of traditional market competition regulations, Ms. Bhanot stressed.
"Building capacities is a prerequisite for effective interventions in the markets. Therefore, regulators must equip themselves beforehand with necessary skills and capacities to deal with market distortions in complex technology markets. Realising this, the CCI is already in the process of establishing and operationalising digital market data unit,"
CCI secretary (I/c) said.
IT giants, such as Google, Amazon, Apple, and Meta (banned and designated as extremist in Russia), have a great influence on the economy and society and gravitate towards monopoly, which causes concern for regulators in different countries. Earlier this year, the CCI slapped Google with $162 million and $113 million penalties in two separate cases.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has formed a committee for drafting a digital competition bill. The panel is also studying if existing provisions in Competition Act, 2002 and related regulations were sufficient to deal with the challenges in the digital economy.
The conference on “Competition and Big Tech” brought together leading experts, policymakers, and stakeholders from around the world to discuss emerging issues related to competition law across the BRICS nations. Anti-competitive practices in the automobile markets and industry 4.0, an ecological approach to competition law in the new economy, and ex-ante rules and competition law for the digital economy were among the key issues discussed.
Source: Business Standard
