This week’s anti-trust and privacy updates are as follows:
CCI Proposes Higher Scrutiny for Mergers and Acquisitions
The CCI, in its Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2022 draft, proposed stringent rules of scrutiny on mergers and acquisitions in India. The regime presently requires the Companies to have a minimum threshold in assets or turnover in India to attract CCI scrutiny. This provides a loophole for Global Tech Giants with low assets and turnover in India to operate outside the scrutiny of CCI. The proposed amendment brings under scrutiny the global companies with substantial business operations in India, irrespective of their assets and turnovers, for their dealings above Rs. 2,000 Crores ($250 million).
Open App Markets Act (Bill) to tackle to Apple and Google Market Dominance
US Senate’s Open App Markets Act (Bill) proposes to regulate apps marketplace, with an aim to reduce tech giants like Apple and Google’s market dominance. The Bill mandates app marketplaces be made open to all third-party marketplace apps on their devices with enabled free payment option integration. Apple’s opposition to this bill asserts that Apple’s stringent apps marketplace policy favours consumer privacy and that third-party marketplace apps pose security and privacy concerns for its consumers.
India Withdraws Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill, 2019
First proposed in 2019, the PDP Bill aimed at giving the Indian Government powers to seek user data from companies and develop a legislative framework for data use as part of the Information Technology Industry Council. It also aimed to protect citizens’ privacy by identifying personal data and establishing a Data Protection Authority. The bill was withdrawn on 03/08/2022 after the Parliamentary panel’s review suggesting various changes. The notice stated that a comprehensive legal framework is being developed and that a new bill will be proposed soon.
Authored by Ipshita Bhattacharyya (Associate, BananaIP Counsels) and Dinesh G (Intern).
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