COMPETITION LAW IN INDIA'S DIGITAL ECONOMY: REGULATING BIG TECH PLATFORMS

Competition law was built for a world of cartels and price-fixing, not free products like Google Search or WhatsApp that dominate markets without charging users a rupee. This paper looks at why India's Competition Act 2002 struggles to catch up with digital markets, where power comes from data and network effects rather than price. It walks through the CCI's evolving approach - including the Android case - and the tension between "ex post" enforcement (acting after harm is already done) and the speed at which digital platforms can lock in dominance. It also touches on where competition law starts overlapping with data protection law, and argues that the real question regulators should ask isn't "is this company big?" but "is it using its size to block fair competition?" The paper ends by considering what India's upcoming Digital Competition Bill might change, and why relying only on slow investigations won't be enough going forward.