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India has made a pitch at the WTO for member countries to work together to check the dominance of a handful of MNCs in the growing e-commerce business across the world. This could be achieved by promoting competition in the digital markets and enhancing cooperation between regulatory authorities, it said.
New Delhi’s paper on correcting the uneven state of play in global e-commerce, submitted to the WTO’s General Council prior to the Ministerial Conference in February 2024, is important, especially in the light of attempts being made by a group; led by rich nations to push a plurilateral (small group) pact on e-commerce rules.
“E-commerce has a potential to drive future economic growth. However, the benefits of this growth are currently unevenly divided in favour of a few large MNCs. In these circumstances, unless due care is taken, the benefits of e-commerce would be limited only to a few who are already in a position to take advantage of the growing e-commerce market,” per the communication submitted by India on `promotion of competition in e-commerce’.
Many developing nations, including India and South Africa, have been opposing the plurilateral talks on the grounds that these violate the WTO’s basic principles of collective decision-making.
They argue that multilateral rules on e-commerce cannot be negotiated till developing countries have their domestic policies in place to check the dominance of MNC players.
In the paper, India said that members should share their experiences in promoting competition in digital markets and also propose how cooperation can be enhanced between regulatory authorities so as to promote competition in e-commerce.
In India, e-commerce giants such as Amazon and Flipkart, have been facing investigations by the Competition Commission of India against alleged cases of anti-competitive practices.
- Also read: Flipkart controversy: InGovern red flags CCI probe on the grounds that it may have been compromised
“Various countries are in the process of exploring how to face these formidable challenges (posed by MNCs) and which domestic policies would need to be framed to provide the necessary support for enabling domestic players to come up and have their fair share of the market. Regulators in different jurisdictions working within different legal and constitutional frameworks often have different approaches to cope with these challenges. However, the global nature of the internet and online digital businesses makes close collaboration between regulators imperative,” the paper underlined.
India also asked developing countries, including LDCs, to point out the constraints being faced by them in the adoption and use of policies to ensure competition in the e-commerce space. It asked for suggestions on initiatives that could be taken to build their capacity and capability .It also asked members to specify what role can be played by the WTO in promoting competition in e-commerce.
The MC12 of the WTO decided to reinvigorate discussions under the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce (WPEC), particularly in line with its development dimension. “Given the importance of addressing competition-related issues for the purpose of ensuring equitable distribution of the benefits of digitalisation, focussed discussions on this matter, including sharing of member experiences, would be useful, particularly for developing countries and LDC members,” it said.
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