Why Indian start-ups have accused IAMAI of spreading ‘Big Tech propaganda’?

Why Indian start-ups have accused IAMAI of spreading ‘Big Tech propaganda’?

Subject: Science and Technology

Section: Computers

Context: There is a widening rift between some Indian start-ups and the industry body Internet and Mobile Association of India (lAMAI).  Growing divide between Indian start-ups and the Big Tech, the former increasingly framing the debate as a foreign versus local issue.

What is IAMAI?

Established in 2004, the IAMAI is a not-for-profit industry body and the country’s only organization representing the digital services industry with over 500 Indian and multinational corporations as its members, which include established companies in diverse sectors of the digital ecosystem and start-ups. It represents varied sectors – digital advertising, digital entertainment, traveltech, online gaming, digital payments, fintech, digital commerce, edtech, healthtech, agritech, big data, ML, AI & IoT, AR/ VR, logistics-tech and so on.

What are Big Tech Companies (BTCs)?

BTCs refer to the most dominant, prolific and largest technology companies in their respective sectors. Their products and services are used globally and have become heavily relied upon by businesses and individuals alike, bringing up privacy, safety and Antitrust concerns about their influence and operations. It typically includes GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook(Meta), Apple), Microsoft. May also include Alibaba, Tencent, Tesla, etc.

Systematically Important Digital Intermediaries

• The PSC on Finance recommended that India must identify the leading players in digital markets that can negatively influence competitive conduct. They should be categorised as Systemically Important Digital Intermediaries (SIDIs) based on their revenue, market capitalisation, and the number of active businesses and end users. SIDIs should annually submit a report to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) detailing the measures taken to comply with various mandatory obligations.

New Law to tackle Anti-competitive practices of BTCs

• The Committee recommended that the government should introduce a Digital Competition Act to ensure a fair, transparent, and contestable digital ecosystem.

Asia Internet Coalition (AIC)

• Established in 2010 as an industry association that promotes the understanding and resolution of Internet policy issues in the Asia Pacific region. Co-founded by eBay, Google, Nokia, Skype, and Yahoo! AIC lobbies government agencies to address public policy issues and facilitate the development of the internet economy in the Asia Pacific region.

Anti-Competitive Practices by Big Tech Companies

• Self-preferencing: An entity may have the dual role of providing the platform and competing on the same platform. Self-preferencing is a practice wherein a platform favours its own services or the services of its subsidiaries.
• Anti-steering: Such provisions are clauses wherein a platform prevents its business users from steering its customers to offers other than those provided by the platform.
• Deep Discounting, refers to a practice wherein an e-commerce company offers a heavy discount on a good or service that is sold in high quantities. This is possible due to high discounts got on bulk purchases by the e-commerce company from manufacturers.
• Search and Ranking Preferences: If any product or service takes precedence in a list displayed, while searching in a platform, it indicates preference or search-bias in favour of those sponsored product or service or orders fulfilled by the platform itself.