Three public policy executives at Samsung India quit amid regulatory headaches

Public policy teams have increasingly critical roles in companies’ efforts to balance regulatory issues as the government has boosted domestic electronics manufacturing while backing tougher regulations on tech firms.

Binu George, who looked at corporate affairs and strategy, Surabhi Pant who worked on policy and public affairs, and Nikhil Kaura from the same team quit last week, two sources said.

They were part of a seven-member team headed by Rajiv Aggarwal, a former bureaucrat who, before joining Samsung in December, led public policy at Meta and Uber in India.

The three executives did not respond to a request for comment. Samsung declined to comment.

The reasons for the departures were not immediately clear, but they come at a time when Samsung is facing challenges in a key growth market, where it recently raced ahead of rival Xiaomi to become the biggest smartphone player.

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However, regulations that could affect the smartphone sector include India’s plans to order removal of pre-installed apps under proposed new security rules and a drive to get firms to make devices compatible with a home-grown navigation system that rivals the US Global Positioning System (GPS). Samsung racked up sales of $10.3 billion in India in fiscal 2021-22, with smartphones making up $6.7 billion. Data from Counterpoint Research shows its market share of 20% for the last quarter of 2022 made it the biggest player.