CCI Likely To Launch Digital Economy Market Study On Competition Issues

New Delhi, Jul 7 (KNN) The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is likely to undertake a market study of the digital economy to better understand the functioning of digital platforms and assess competition-related issues in the sector.

CCI Plans Comprehensive Digital Economy Study

The proposed study is expected to examine the operations of digital businesses and evolving market dynamics from a competition perspective, reported Business Today. 

It follows the regulator's earlier market study on artificial intelligence (AI), which assessed the impact of AI on competition, innovation and efficiency across industries.

The AI study, conducted by the Management Development Institute and released last year, found that while AI offers significant gains in productivity, innovation and consumer experience, emerging issues could affect competition and limit the technology's full potential if left unaddressed.

The proposed digital economy study would build on those findings and provide a broader assessment of how businesses are operating within India's digital ecosystem.

The CCI has been actively monitoring the digital sector and has investigated several technology companies over alleged anti-competitive practices, imposing penalties in a number of cases for violations of competition law.

Digital Competition Bill Remains in Focus

The move also comes against the backdrop of the proposed Digital Competition Bill, which was being considered by the government to introduce ex-ante regulations for large digital platforms. 

The draft legislation proposed a regulatory framework for ‘Systemically Significant Digital Enterprises’ (SSDEs) offering core digital services in India.

However, the proposed framework faced opposition from major technology companies, including Amazon, Meta, Apple, Google, Flipkart and Swiggy, which raised concerns over the introduction of ex-ante regulatory requirements. The proposed legislation has since seen little progress in recent months.

(KNN Bureau)