A. The status quo
Recent years have witnessed an increased scrutiny by competition
authorities worldwide with respect to alleged anti-competitive
practices in digital markets. In the Indian context, this has
resulted in investigations being initiated against tech giants such
as Google and Facebook, e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and
Flipkart, online food delivery platforms such as Zomato and Swiggy
and online travel aggregators such as MakeMyTrip, amongst
others.
In order to address the alleged anti-competitive harm associated
with digital markets, the Indian government has proposed certain
measures. This includes the introduction of a deal value threshold
under the Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2022, as amended, and
having the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance
(SCF) examine anti-competitive practices
by big-tech companies and provide its recommendations. In December
2022, the SCF submitted its report where it recommended ex-ante
evaluation of
