IT for Change, in collaboration with Rishab Bailey, an independent tech policy consultant, responded to the call for public comments on the draft Digital Competition Bill, recommended by the Committee on Digital Competition Law.* The response agrees with the need for having an ex-ante framework to address digital competition. In particular, it seeks to create a regulatory framework rooted in an evidence-based and transparent system that enables the Competition Commission to effectively carry out its responsibilities. In that regard, the response focuses on ensuring that the draft bill has provisions for an impact assessment prior to designation as a Systemically Significant Digital Enterprise, an inclusive list of positive obligations, as well as requirements for transparent, reasoned orders with adequate public consultations for both the Commission and the Central government while making decisions, framing guidelines or rules, respectively.
Read our complete response here.
*IT for Change would also like to thank Prof. Rahul Singh, Margarida Silva from SOMO, and Siddharth Mishra for their inputs.