Experts discuss draft Digital Competition Bill at MNLU Mumbai's national consultation workshop

Maharashtra National Law University (MNLU) Mumbai's Centre for Information Communication Technology and Law (CICTL) in collaboration with TechRegForum hosted a National Virtual Consultation Workshop titled 'Building a Balanced Framework for India's Digital Competition Law' on August 23, 2025.

The workshop focused on the regulatory framework for digital markets in light of the proposed Digital Competition Bill. It featured discussions from judges, academicians, practitioners, economists, and other stakeholders.

The inaugural session included Delhi High Court, Justice Anish Dayal who discussed the long-term implications of artificial intelligence (AI) on market regulation and urged competition law to prepare for changes of the future 10-15 years.

Profession of Competition Law, Tilburg University, Professor Giorgio Monti emphasized the need for regulatory coordination to avoid case duplication.

Co-founder iSPRIT, Sharad Sharma was the keynote speaker and spoke on digital public infrastructure and the role of citizen agency in building fair and competitive digital ecosystems.

The first session was moderated by Anupam Sanghi who brought up the evidentiary role of data in digital competition regulation. The session included deliberations from the dignitaries present including President of the Society of Indian Law Firms, Dr Lalit Bhasin, former Member (Economics) of Competition Commission of India (CCI), Dr Geeta Gouri, Dean, SRM University, Dr Vijay Kumar Singh, and IIM Ahmedabad, Prof Vishwanath Pingali.

The session dealt with a spectrum of challenges. Dr Bhasin highlighted the irreplaceable role of human judgement in law amidst the growing influence of AI. Dr Gouri spoke on the rise of 'data markets' and the challenges faced by the CCI in adapting to the digital economy. Dr Singh took up the persistent debate picked by dominant players over ex-ante regulations, where rules are imposed prior to the harms caused. Prof Pingali drew on behavioral economics to analyze platform competition.

The second session was a Panel Discussion moderated by Anupam Sanghi, who highlighted the global impact of digital competition regulations. The main focus of the session was emphasizing the necessity of a clear purpose in developing India's competition regime, with unresolved questions central to the digital competition law committee's report.

This session featured insights from Professor, Jindal Global Law School, Prof (Dr) Shilpi Bhattacharya, who had previously conducted an analysis of the WhatsApp Privacy case. The key findings focused on the lack of transparency in data collection and the absence of consumer choice due to WhatsApp's coercive terms of service.

Partner, Hausfeld, Prof (Dr) Thomas Hoppner discussed about the necessity for effective remedies to address the abuse of dominance.

Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Law, Economics & Society, University College London, Dr Amber Darr, through a comparative analysis, discussed about the divergent experiences of other nations, such as Taiwan, Korea, and Japan, which have faced varying levels of success and resistance in their regulatory efforts.

Founder, Managing Director, Betweenity, Odie Strydom, touched upon South Africa's market inquiries into online intermediation platforms, which revealed issues like Google's self-referencing practices and discriminatory conduct by property service platforms.

These inquiries led to recommendations aimed at improving market fairness and competition. The discussions placed India’s draft Digital Competition Bill in a broader international context, particularly in relation to frameworks such as the EU’s Digital Markets Act.

The third session was the Stakeholder Roundtable session where distinguished stakeholders were invited from all across the globe to engage directly with the panel and pose questions and explore solutions to critical issues relating to the subject matter under discussion.

The event highlighted the need for a framework that protects innovation, ensures consumer welfare, and strengthens India’s role in the global digital economy.

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