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India Raises the Bar for Global Digital Giants

India Raises the Bar for Global Digital Giants
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2020 has been a particular year for most of us, staying at home, as well as for businesses, trying to adapt and figure out what's next after Covid-19. Inevitably, online retail and internet services have taken over, shooting India among the leaders in terms of market growth.

Written by Editorial Team |Updated : January 18, 2021 2:11 PM IST

Contrary to many other businesses, the Indian digital market is leaving behind a strong year. As tech service providers line up to get a share of the pie, Central regulators do not seem afraid to place hard limits on global online giants. They might just be doing the right thing.

Online India Growing Stronger

2020 has been a particular year for most of us, staying at home, as well as for businesses, trying to adapt and figure out what's next after Covid-19. Inevitably, online retail and internet services have taken over, shooting India among the leaders in terms of market growth.

User-friendly technological solutions may have a few downsides. One of those, certainly, is the grasp of monopolies in the sector, exploiting their dominant position and our need for their services. Trying to balance opportunities and threats, India has adopted an approach which differs from the rest of the free world: placing early limits on global digital giants as a condition for tapping into its vibrant online market.

Antitrust legislation is a tricky area IT businesses bring much needed innovation, tech heavyweights like Facebook and Google pull the sector ahead and create niche opportunities for many local providers of digital and other services. Yet, often they tend to suffocate rivals. Financial technology is a prime example of a rapidly expanding ecosystem with benefits to almost all online business sectors.

Curbing the Big Players

Massive tech companies' dominance of the market has been considered carefully by national regulators. In an attempt to combat fintech monopoly, the government has put a limit of 30% of all transactions on single online payment providers. In a sector dominated by Google Pay and PhonePe, important global players such as Paytm, Amazon Pay and WhatsApp Pay are all competing for a bigger share.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has seen its own Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform designated as a mandatory system for all foreign fintech businesses. NCPI's Chief Executive Officer, Dilip Asbe, assures this will guarantee healthy competition yet preserve market innovation.

One of the big industries which sees consistent flows of online payments is online gaming. Gamers browsing through an online gambling guide will see reviews of trustworthy payment providers and relevant user feedback from gamblers whos been playing casino on websites such as 10Cric Casino in India.

Christopher Baude, an Online Casino Expert at India's own Guide2Gambling has recently noted that "the regulations set in place by the Indian government can quite possibly become the bench mark for the rest of the world. By combatting monopoly among digital payment providers the Indian government pushes innovation and takes a stand for consumer rights without infringing too much on companies' business opportunities."

The UPI open payments platform guarantees compatibility among online merchants and service providers on one hand, and payment channels on the other. Money is moved securely between more than 100 traditional Indian banks without fees to end users, making for a level playing field for all.

While there are a million ways to make money online, internet payment providers and innovative fintech services are the ones that actually channel the money to your account. And here is exactly where India has put its foot down, setting up a unique approach of fitting a muzzle on the tech giants' big appetite.