Stakeholders seek more time to submit comments on draft digital competition law

Various stakeholders on Monday urged the government to provide more time to submit inputs on the draft digital competition law. As many as 21 entities, including CUTS International, Broadband India Forum, Internet Freedom Foundation and The Dialogue, as well as 26 individuals have written an open letter in this regard.

Initially, the deadline for submitting comments on the draft digital competition law and the report of Committee on Digital Competition Law (CDCL) was April 15 and the same has been extended till May 15.

In their letter to Corporate Affairs Secretary Manoj Govil, they said the current deadline to submit comments by May 15 is insufficient to make a nuanced and informed submission, considering the technical complexity of the subject matter, cross-cutting impact of the bill and regulatory overlaps.

"The bill will impact various sectors and domains of the digital economy, including user experience, data protection and security, supply chains, investments, business costs for MSMEs and consumer affordability. It is also likely to impact non-digital domains, owing to their inextricable relationship with digital counterparts...," the letter said.

They have sought an extension in deadline for five months to submit the inputs.

In March this year, fair trade regulator proposed digital competition bill which seeks to put in place several obligations for large digital enterprises, including news aggregators, as part of efforts to ensure a level-playing field and fair competition in the digital space.

After being set up in February last year, the Committee on Digital Competition Law came out with its report and a draft bill wherein the focus is on having ex-ante regulations to prevent possible anti-competitive practices.