Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that emergence of gatekeeper platforms has challenged free and fair digital markets even as she calls for global cooperation and agile regulation to tackle the rise of cross-border digital monopolies demands.
The finance minister was speaking at the 16th Annual Day Celebrations of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) here on Tuesday.
Gatekeeper platforms are large tech companies with significant market dominance, and which control a large number of digital services across the globe. Tech giants like Google and Amazon and Meta have constantly come under anti-trust regulator’s scrutiny across the world.
Sitharaman also expressed her concern on issues like market power, transparency, data access, algorithmic biases, and the scope of competitive harm that emergence of artificial intelligence can cause.
She praised the CCI for establishing the ‘Digital Markets Division’, which she says is a timely move, and is expected to become a centre of excellence in understanding technology markets, forging inter-regulatory partnerships, and engaging in global discourse.
Despite technology threatening fair market competition, the FM reiterated the importance of a light-touch regulatory framework based on principles and trust to unleash productivity and employment. She also advocated that regulators must be guided by the principle of ‘minimum necessary, maximum feasible’ in order to balance regulatory vigilance with a pro-growth mindset.
“In an export-challenged, environment-challenged, energy-challenged, and emissions-challenged world, the increased reliance on domestic growth levers requires ensuring the right balance of regulation and freedom, which can unleash the creative and productive capacities of India's small and medium entrepreneurs, leading to innovation, greater competition, and overall prosperity,” she said while indicating tighter regulations can become counterproductive.
She reiterated that in today’s interconnected and fast-paced global economy, delays in regulatory clearances can lead to uncertainty, disrupt commercial timelines, and potentially erode the intended value of transactions.
“It is therefore imperative that regulatory frameworks, while maintaining rigorous oversight, also facilitate swift and seamless approvals for combinations that pose no harm to competition,” she added.