Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Ritesh Agarwal to meet parliamentary panel
Vijay Shekhar Sharma and many other global tech giants: An important parliamentary panel on Thursday will hear from top executives of eight domestic tech companies about the market behavior of technology platforms amid growing antitrust concerns. These executives include Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Oyo founder Ritesh Agarwal.
An examination of the issues of competition in the market has been conducted by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance chaired by former Union minister Jayant Sinha.
A panel of experts is scheduled to question representatives of technology platforms, e-commerce companies, and gaming companies about their market behavior very soon, Sinha informed PTI.
According to Sinha, members of the panel include representatives of Swiggy, Flipkart, Zomato, Ola, Oyo, MakeMyTrip, Paytm, and AIGMA for food delivery services.
On July 21, the Lok Sabha website reported that the committee will hear the views of industry stakeholders and associations regarding anti-competitive practices by big tech companies.
A confirmed list of attendees includes PayTM founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Ola CFO Arun Kumar, Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal, Make My Trip chairman and chief mentor Deep Kalra, and Oyo founder and Group CEO Ritesh Agarwal.
As part of its investigation of Google, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, and other big technology companies, the committee had previously summoned representatives from these companies.
A wide variety of stakeholder discussions have already taken place with the panel, including discussions with the Competition Commission of India (CCI), the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
Additionally, the organization met with representatives of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) and hospitality organizations to discuss the problem.
Several tech giants have been subjected to increased scrutiny by the government. Ola and Uber were issued notices in May for unfair trade practices and violations of consumer rights by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA).
Wireless jammers and network boosters should not be sold on eCommerce sites by the Department of Telecommunications in July. Ayurvedic, Siddha, and Unani drugs sold online without a valid prescription were also subject to strict action by the CCPA in the same month.
The investigative arm of the CCI reviewed documents that suggested financial dealings between eCommerce platforms and their preferred sellers in May.
The government has also investigated Zomato and Swiggy for anticompetitive practices. Both food tech giants were investigated by CCI in April for alleged anti-competitive practices.
Aside from Avantika Bajaj, India Gaming Federation CEO Roland Landers and Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishna Murthy will attend the meeting, the company said. Various technology platforms and companies have been accused of anti-competitive behavior in recent years.
Various cases of alleged unfair business practices are already being investigated by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
A parliamentary panel on April 28 heard a presentation by the CCI about market competition.
In the wake of that meeting, Sinha told reporters that the panel and officials from Corporate Affairs, Information Technology, and the Commerce Commission had “an excellent set of discussions.”
The Paytm chief is reappointed until December 2027 by Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Its founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma has been reappointed as MD and CEO of One 97 Communications, which operates under the Paytm brand, until December 18, 2027.
The Board of Directors of the Company (‘Board’) has decided to adopt the nomination and remuneration recommendations of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee. A regulatory filing to the stock market says “the Board of Directors have approved Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s re-appointment as ‘Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of One 97 Communications during their meeting on May 20, 2022.”
A billion Indians will join Paytm’s mainstream economy under his leadership,” the statement stated. In the Indian financial services and digital payments landscape, Vijay Shekhar Sharma has made significant contributions.
