Indian MNCs are absent from discussions on digital policy

Context

Hyperactivity in the digital regulatory space in India in the form of policies, rules and guidelines signals the accelerated growth of the digital ecosystem which needs regulatory nurturing.

Recent policy measures related to digital ecosystem

• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has announced the draft amendment to the IT Rules 2021 (June 2022).
• The draft India Data Accessibility and Use Policy (February 2022).
• National Data Governance Framework Policy (May 2022) and the new cyber security directions (April 2022).
• Besides these, the most awaited and critical e-commerce policy and the Data Protection Bill, both of which have been in the making for at least a few years now, are likely to be announced soon.
• This hyperactivity signals the accelerated growth of the digital ecosystem which needs regulatory nurturing.
• The government has recently invited stakeholders to an open house discussion on the proposed changes to the IT Rules.
  

What are the causes behind the MEITY moves?

• There has been accelerated growth of the digital ecosystem, which needs regulatory nurturing.
• There has been an enormous backlash against the growing power and influence of internet giants. They do bring benefits to consumers, businesses and governments, but then they also enjoy dominant positions, engender misinformation and at the extreme, undermine democratic processes.
• These platforms have developed other ways to influence the government. For example, they have upped their advocacy by hiring qualified professionals and funding empirical research, not only in India but also across the world.

Other issues

• First of all, the government does not always consult businesses before announcing a new policy or regulation. But, the government has recently invited stakeholders to an open house discussion on the proposed changes to the IT Rules. 
• But there are problems in this ongoing process:
• The Big Giants like Google, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter etc. are all actively engaged in policy discussions, either directly or through third parties to put forth a point of view. Further, start-ups, think tanks, civil society organisations and academics invested in the issues of the digital economy either as usersor as observers have also been contributing in the process of policy discourse.
• Indian origin multinational corporations — the Tatas, Reliance, Aditya Birla Group, Godrej, ITC, Bajaj, and Hero, who have collectively contributed to the country’s development are missing in the discussion.
• Many of these Indian MNCs are working towards adopting digital technologies for manufacturing, distribution, and client service. For example, many companies now have online distribution channels. Like The Tatas have entered into e-commerce, first with Tata Cliq and recently with Neu.
• Over the last few years there has been an overwhelming presence of the Big Tech Indian start-ups competing in this space in the active debate on critical digital policies including those on data governance, privacy, anti-trust, and intermediary liability. However, Indian MNCs have been mostly absent.