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Google Faces Major Regulatory Hurdles and Plans Fresh Pushback Against India Digital Bill
M
Moneycontrol•19-10-2026, 12:43
Google Faces Major Regulatory Hurdles and Plans Fresh Pushback Against India Digital Bill
- •Google could face the heaviest regulatory impact among global tech giants from India's proposed Digital Competition Bill, with six of its businesses potentially restricted.
- •The company is preparing a fresh representation for the Ministry of Corporate Affairs within two weeks to seek changes to the legislation.
- •Under the proposed framework, Google could be designated a Systemically Significant Digital Enterprise across six digital service categories.
- •Proposed restrictions on self-preferencing, app bundling, and data sharing could force significant changes to Google's interconnected operating model.
- •Other big-tech companies like Meta and Amazon are also opposing the bill, which introduces an ex-ante competition regime for large platforms.
Key Questions Answered
India's proposed Digital Competition Bill introduces an ex-ante regulatory regime that could designate Google as a Systemically Significant Digital Enterprise (SSDE) across six of its businesses, threatening changes to its operating model and restrictions on self-preferencing and data bundling.
India's existing competition framework relies on an ex-post approach where the Competition Commission of India investigates conduct after it happens, whereas the new bill would proactively impose preventive rules on designated digital platforms.
Google could face SSDE designations and restrictions across six categories including online search engines, web browsers, operating systems, video-sharing platforms, cloud services, and advertising services.
