Digital Competition Law waits its turn
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New Delhi: The corporate affairs ministry is unlikely to bring in the proposed digital competition legislation this fiscal to regulate large players, as it aims to first introduce amendments to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and the Companies Act , people aware of the development said.On top of that, the ministry is also tied up with plans to expand the PM Internship Scheme for youth by September-October, the people told ET.In March 2024, a panel led by then corporate affairs secretary Manoj Govil had suggested a new antitrust law with an ex-ante framework to regulate only "systemically significant digital enterprises" that have a "significant presence" in India. It had submitted with the government a draft digital competition bill, along with its report, for consideration."The ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) has received stakeholder comments on the draft bill. More inter-ministerial discussions would be undertaken to drum up consensus on it," said one of the people. "It may be finalised next fiscal."Last year, senior government officials were expecting the bill to be ready for Cabinet approval by the second half of FY26.Since digital competition is a rapidly-evolving and complex area, the government reckons undue haste in regulations could be counter-productive, said the people cited earlier. The idea is to come out with a law that would prevent large digital players from abusing their dominant position to hurt competition in the market, without hurting innovation or making compliance more burdensome, they said.The ministry is learnt to have apprised the reasons for delay to the parliamentary standing committee on finance in a meeting on April 28.A senior industry executive said the government is also awaiting the conclusion of its ongoing trade negotiations with the US, which has reportedly expressed its reservation on the proposed law.The ministry is preparing to introduce changes to the IBC in the monsoon session of Parliament, likely in July-August. This could be followed by changes to the Companies Act, expected in the winter session, the people said.
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