Entrepreneurs flag lack of ‘credence’ as IAMAI not representing their interests, favouring Big Tech

India’s top internet entrepreneurs are up in arms against what they term as a lack of “credence” in nodal industry grouping, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). These founders are demanding a change in the leadership of the apex body, which they contend has become a “mouthpiece of Big Tech,” while failing to represent the interests of home-grown digital companies.

This signals a deepening of the chasm between the interests of global internet majors such as Google and Facebook, which count India as one of their biggest markets, and that of the local internet startups over issues ranging from pricing policies to digital regulations.

Bharat Matrimony’s Murugavel Janakiraman, MapMyIndia’s Rohan Verma and Shaadi.com’s Anupam Mittal are among the internet entrepreneurs who are demanding a “change,” or for the grouping to be paid “no credence.”

“IAMAI views & submissions to govt & media on digital policies, regulations, laws etc are completely wrong and antithetical to what Indians – consumers, industry, government – need,” said MapmyIndia chief executive Rohan Verma in a tweet on Monday.

He pointed out that IAMAI’s executive council is currently chaired by Sanjay Gupta, country head and vice president of Google, while Shivnath Thukral, public policy director for India at WhatsApp Inc is the vice-chairman.

Mittal, who is also founder of People Group, weighed in on the issue.

Deepening Tussle

Shaadi.com’s Mittal, widely recognised as a judge on the popular startup funding competition Shark Tank, tweeted, “It (IAMAI) appears to have become a mouthpiece of Big Tech.”

Verma in his post demanded that either IAMAI change to “truly reflect the voice and aspirations of India” or be given “no credence.”

On Friday, ET reported that Indian startups were opposing IAMAI’s draft views on the digital competition law on grounds that the industry body was batting for Big Tech platforms.

Times Internet — part of the Times Group, which publishes ET — is a member of IAMAI.

The Google Policy

The latest salvo comes as the rift between Indian internet companies and IAMAI is deepening over its stance on several issues. One of them is Google’s billing policy for app developers.

Following two adverse orders from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in October last year, Google changed its Android mobile operating system. One of the changes was to replace the mandatory Google Play Billing (GPB) system — wherein users could only make in-app purchases using the search giant’s payment gateway — with a user choice billing (UCB) system.

Indian startups argued that under UCB, Google was still charging a commission on non-Google payment methods, while also asking developers to share transaction data of payments made through other channels.

Currently, CCI is hearing whether UCB is anti-competitive or not.

Meanwhile, the Madras High Court is also hearing a complaint by matchmaking platform operator Matrimony over the UCB system. Its chief executive, Janakiraman, told ET IAMAI has remained silent on key issues that Indian internet companies have taken up, such as GPB.

“IAMAI is one of the oldest industry bodies, with Indian entrepreneurs being instrumental in its creation. But unfortunately, over a period of time, Big Tech platforms have become more influential voices within the organisation. Google and Meta are currently chair and co-chair,” Janakiraman said. “For the Google in-app purchase billing issue, IAMAI did not take any steps. In the Digital India Act, Indian internet companies want a separate law to rein in Big Tech companies.”

Last month, IAMAI circulated a draft note among its members flagging certain recommendations by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance for a separate digital competition law.

IAMAI president Subho Ray did not respond to a request seeking comment for this story.

Upcoming Elections

IAMAI’s executive council is elected for a tenure of two years, and people in the know said the election process for the 2023-25 executive council will begin this month. The association members include multinational giants Google, Meta and Microsoft, as well as Indian companies such as Paytm, Udaan, Boat, PhonePe, Unacademy and Byju’s.

The industry body counts almost 500 companies operating in the Indian tech and internet space as its members. It makes representations to the government and regulators over issues pertaining to the digital ecosystem. Additionally, the organisation also runs two self-regulatory bodies – one for online video streaming companies under rules notified by the ministry of information & broadcasting, and one for edtech platforms.

“Sad to see various Indian trade bodies lured by & acting on behalf of the interest of foreign companies. They are certainly welcomed in India and appreciated — but know that it is your privilege to have access to the Indian market, and that you definitely don’t have a right to plunder India,” said MapmyIndia’s Verma.

Previous Run-ins

This is not the first time that Indian companies have accused IAMAI of favouring the interests of Big Tech companies.

In 2017, a group of tech startups led by Sachin Bansal’s Flipkart and Bhavish Aggarwal’s Ola formed a new organisation, IndiaTech.org, to lobby for Indian startups.

In February this year, ET reported that online gaming companies, who are members of IAMAI, had written to the IT ministry opposing views submitted by IAMAI on new rules for the sector. The industry body had flagged certain provisions of online gaming rules, which sources had said would impact other IAMAI members — Meta, Amazon, Google and other Big Tech firms.

“They are the only body representing startups. The other organisation right now is ADIF, which is only just getting active. It is important to recognise IAMAI for what it is,” said a Bengaluru-based venture capital investor that backs Indian startups.

ADIF, or Alliance of Digital India Foundation, was formed with members such as Paytm, MapmyIndia, TrulyMadly, Matrimony and others to lobby for Indian startups. The body recently filed a case against Google and CCI in the Delhi High Court, seeking intervention in Google’s new in-app purchase billing system.

One of the key contentions of Indian internet companies is that IAMAI has been led by representatives of Big Tech companies. “I hope everyone realises that the chair & vice-chair of IAMAI are from foreign Big Tech. Sad to see an organisation originally founded by and for Indian companies, taken over & now promoting a false narrative,” MapmyIndia’s Verma said.

Google’s Sanjay Gupta was elected as chair of IAMAI’s executive council, the key decision-making body of the organisation, succeeding Amazon India senior vice-president and country head Amit Agarwal in 2021.

Meanwhile, WhatsApp’s Thukral became vice-chair after the originally elected Meta India managing director Ajit Mohan left the company. Mohan had succeeded Dhruv Shringi, cofounder and chief executive of Yatra.com. Agarwal and Shringi were elected in 2019, replacing then Google vice-president for southeast Asia and India Rajan Anandan and MakeMyTrip founder and chairman Deep Kalra, respectively.

Previously, during 2015-17, Kunal Shah – cofounder of FreeCharge and later Cred – and music app Saavn’s cofounder Vinodh Bhat were chair and vice-chair of the IAMAI executive council, respectively.