As per a recent analysis done by the CUTS Institute for Regulation & Competition (CIRC), there can be a significant impact of India’s draft Digital Competition Bill (DCB) on the user experience of various digital platforms.
User Convenience at Risk in India’s Draft Digital Bill?
The Bill aims to regulate large digital enterprises (LDEs) by designating them as Systemically Significant Data Enterprises (SSDEs) based on user and financial thresholds.
As per the analysis, 13 major digital companies in India which includes the likes of Zomato, Swiggy, Paytm, IRCTC, Makemytrip, and Flipkart, would likely fall under the purview of the DCB.
Hence, these companies might face stricter regulations aimed at promoting fair competition in the digital market.
As per the report, the concerns were raised about the potential downsides of the DCB for consumers. The focus on ex-ante regulations, which intervene before any anti-competitive practices occur, might lead to a cumbersome user experience.
As per the report, the current discourse surrounding the DCB hasn’t adequately considered the impact on user convenience.
DCB – Trade-Off Between Fair Competition and User Convenience in India
As per the results, user experience might change for popular apps like Paytm, MyJio, Makemytrip, and IRCTC under the DCB regime. One of the key concerns raised was the potential for increased user effort due to limitations on data collection and usage.
For example, Paytm users currently benefit a lot from automatic address filling during transactions, based on previously stored data. However, if current restrictions are levied then that would prevent the app from offering this convenience, which would force the users to manually enter their address information every time.
On the same lines, the report suggests that SSDEs like Makemytrip might be required to unbundle their services, meaning users would need separate apps for functionalities currently offered within a single platform. This could lead to a fragmented user experience, wherein users will have to switch between multiple apps to access different services which were previously available under one roof.
There is also one more downside to this, which is called as “consent fatigue.” This means the overload of permission requests from apps moving forward over the user consent for data usage.
The report cites the example of MyJio, where users might face a barrage of pop-ups seeking consent for data sharing practices, hindering the app’s previously seamless experience.
In nutshell, the critical points in the discussion were raised by the CUTS institute report surrounding India’s Digital Competition Bill. Though there is an upside, but potential downside should also be taken into consideration in order to have better user experience.
For a healthy digital ecosystem in India, the sweet spot of balance must be found out!
