New Delhi, Apr 9 (KNN) The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) is of the view that the draft national e-commerce policy may be inimical to the government’s efforts of building a trillion-dollar digital economy by 2022.

The association is also of the view that the policy is likely to severely bring down FDI flows in the sector which is the backbone to building a trillion-dollar digital economy.

In a press release, IAMAI said “By artificially curbing cross border data flow, by mandating data localization, by extending the definition of e-commerce to include all digital services like digital advertising and online streaming and possibly imposing FDI restrictions (currently restricted to product e-commerce only under the Consolidated FDI Policy) on all digital services, the draft Policy is likely to severely bring down FDI flows in the sector which is the backbone to building a trillion-dollar digital economy.”

The association also found that the process of making the policy itself was less than inclusive and open as compared to more recent national level policies such as the National Digital Communications Policy 2018.

Besides this, it expressed the difference in opinion with the draft policy’s understanding of ‘data is the new oil’.

IAMAI stated that unlike non-renewable natural resources like oil or coal, data is non-exclusive, non-exhaustive and easily replicable. Furthermore, unlike the other natural resources, processing of data does not deplete the stock of data and only created further data.

The association also pointed out that the provisions of this Policy contradict the underlying principles of the draft Personal Data Protection Bill (PDP) on multiple grounds.

It stated that the PDP is restricted to individual data and keeps anonymized data outside its ambit while the e-commerce policy covers all data; the PDP recognizes individuals as ultimate owner of their data and even the state is at best a fiduciary, while the e-commerce bill considers State as the ultimate owner of data.

In addition, the PDP recognizes consumer’s consent while the e-commerce bill completely negates it; the PDP allows cross border sharing of data with limitations based on category of data while the e-commerce bill suggests blanket ban.

IAMAI further highlighted that the PDP was based on the principles of privacy as fundamental rights as laid by the Supreme Court in the Puttaswamy Judgment.