Rationalize regulatory overlaps to unleash our digital economy

Digital businesses in India are staring at the prospect of control by no less than six regulators, as the state attempts to govern new technology. An expert committee on non-personal data (NPD) was the latest to suggest the creation of an NPD Authority, a new supervisory body that will enable data sharing and enforce data requests. This is in addition to a recently notified Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) whose remit would grant it oversight of digital businesses, and the current government’s proposals to create a regulator for personal data as well as e-commerce. India also has a sector- agnostic anti-trust regulator, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), and a telecom regulator that seems to see itself as a future licensor of digital applications.