• Google and Apple have previously been under CCI's investigation.
• Anti-competitive behaviour against Amazon and Flipkart is alleged.
• Large tech corporations have expressed dissatisfaction with excessive compliance costs.

On Thursday, a parliamentary panel suggested that the government pass a digital competition legislation to control Big Tech corporations' anti-competitive business practises on their platforms. Relationships between the administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and many major technology firms have been strained, and New Delhi has been tightening regulations on companies like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

 The Antitrust Commission of India (CCI), the nation's competition authority, has already investigated Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Apple for suspected abuses of the application market. 'The Committee recommend that the government should consider and introduce a digital competition act to ensure a fair, transparent, and contestable digital ecosystem, which will be a boon not only for our country and its nascent start-up economy, but also for the entire world,' the panel stated in a report submitted to India's lower house of parliament. 

In order to prevent monopolies, the panel advised designating leading technology companies as systemically important digital intermediaries. However, it also cautioned that these companies 'must not favour its own offers over the offers of its competitors' when serving as market intermediaries for supply and sales.

Amazon and its rival Flipkart are accused of engaging in anti-competitive behaviour in the nation, including prioritising listings from certain merchants and promoting preferred sellers on websites.
Companies like Facebook (META.O), Twitter, and Google (GOOGL.O) have been moaning for years about the onerous compliance requirements associated with the numerous laws the government has suggested for the technology sector.

 Relationships between New Delhi and Washington have occasionally been strained by the allegations. Requests for comment from Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta, and Twitter did not immediately receive a response. The panel recommended creating a specialised division for digital markets inside the competition watchdog and emphasised the necessity to monitor big tech corporations' competitive behaviour before markets monopolise rather than after.