A group of Google, Amazon and Apple lobbyists oppose India’s EU-style antitrust proposal

Authors: Aditya Kalra and Arpan Chaturvedi

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – A U.S. lobbying group representing tech giants Google, Amazon and Apple has asked India to rethink its proposed EU-style competition law, arguing that regulations prohibiting the use of data and preferential treatment of partners could lead to increase user costs.

Citing the growing market power of several large digital companies in India, a government panel in February proposed imposing obligations on them under a new antitrust law that would complement existing regulations that the panel said were “time-consuming” to enforce.

India’s “Digital Competition Act” builds on the EU’s landmark Digital Markets Act 2022. It will apply to large companies, including those with a global turnover of more than $30 billion and whose digital services have at least 10 million users locally, resulting in that some of them are the world’s largest technology companies within their reach.

It proposes banning companies from using non-public data of their users and promoting their own services over competitors, as well as lifting restrictions on downloading third-party applications.

Companies implement these strategies to bring new product features to market and improve user safety, and restricting them will derail their plans, the US-India Business Council (USIBC), part of the US Chamber of Commerce, said in a May 15 letter to the Indian Council Corporate Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is working on the bill.

The draft Indian law is “much broader in scope” than the EU draft, according to the letter, which has not been made public but was seen by Reuters.

“Targeted companies are likely to reduce investments in India, pass on higher prices for digital services and reduce the scope of services,” the report said.

USIBC, which asked India to reconsider the planned law, did not respond to Reuters’ inquiries, nor did the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Apple, Amazon or Google.

India, with 1.4 billion people and a growing wealthy class, is a lucrative market for large technology companies. Apple CEO Tim Cook said this month that the company reported “record revenue” in India in the March quarter, when its total global revenue fell 4%.

The Indian panel says the new law is needed because a few large digital companies “exercise enormous control over the market.” As in the EU, it recommends imposing a fine of up to 10% of a company’s annual global turnover for violations.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has been investigating large technology companies for years.

In 2022, the CCI fined Google $161 million, ordering it to stop restricting users from deleting pre-installed apps and allow downloads without using the app store. Google denies abuse and says such restrictions increase user security.

Amazon also faces an antitrust investigation over favoring selected sellers on its Indian website, which it denies. Apple also denies the allegations, but faces an investigation into alleged abuse of its dominant position in the app market.

However, a group of 40 Indian start-ups expressed support for the new Indian law, saying it could help address the monopolistic practices of dominant digital platforms and create a level playing field for smaller companies.

There is no set timetable, but the Indian government will next hear views on the proposals before seeking parliamentary approval with or without the changes.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra and Arpan Chaturvedi; Additional reporting by Munsif Vengattil; Editing by Kim Coghill)