In it, IFF highlighted that internet shutdowns are extremely common in India, citing reports by Top10VPN and Access Now, and data from the Software Freedom Law Center and Meta.
According to the TopVPN report, the Indian government imposed major internet restrictions on citizens for 1,157 hours in 2021, the equivalent of more than 48 days. This included 317.5 hours of total internet blackout and 840 hours of bandwidth throttling.
In all, internet restrictions cost the India economy $582.8 million (Rs 4,348 crore) in 2021. Only Myanmar ($2.8 billion) and Nigeria ($1.5 billion) did more economic damage with these self-inflicted wounds.
This dismal performance was actually an improvement for India from 2020, when it lost an estimated $2.8 billion – more than any other country by far – after shutting down the internet for a combined 8,927 hours.
Overall, government internet outages in 21 countries lasting over 30,000 hours cost the global economy $5.45 billion in 2021, a 36% increase from 2020, when $4.01 billion was lost, the report said.
India’s internet restrictions in 2021
Internet blackout: 317.5 hours
Bandwidth throttling: 840 hours
Total cost of restrictions: $582.8 million
The Indian government imposed more costly internet outages than almost any other nation, according to the report by TopVPN. It also said:
- Some of the outages constituted election interference, while others violated people’s right to peaceful assembly and freedom of the press.
- The biggest economic hit came from throttling internet speeds in Kashmir, where authorities finally restored normal internet access in February, after 18 months.
- The intentional slowdown to 2G speeds rendered the internet in Kashmir nearly useless, causing education and business to suffer during the pandemic.
- In late January, the government imposed a costly localised internet blackout in Delhi in response to the farmers’ protest. Reports that police fired teargas and savagely beat protesters circulated despite the internet outage.
- Other internet blackouts revolved around controlling the flow of information online in Kashmir after the death of a prominent separatist leader. Rajasthan’s internet was shut down in September to prevent exam cheating.
What the law says: In its submission to the United Nations, IFF said the government continued to impose frequent shutdowns “despite the fact that the law permits suspension of internet services only in exceptional circumstances”.
It noted that the government uses Section 5(2) of the Indian Telegraph Act and the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules, 2017 to impose shutdowns.
Both these pieces of legislation, IFF said, were extensively considered by the Supreme Court in Anuradha Bhasin vs Union of India, (2020).
“In Anuradha Bhasin, in the context of a year-long communication shutdown in Jammu & Kashmir, the Supreme Court had held that internet shutdowns are a ‘drastic measure’ which may be imposed only if it is lawful, necessary and proportionate, and only after publishing internet suspension orders,” it said.
Written by Zaheer Merchant in Mumbai.
TOP STORIES BY OUR REPORTERS
Centre issues order to ban 54 Chinese apps
The Indian government, which banned 224 Chinese apps in three rounds in 2020, has issued fresh orders to ban around 54 Chinese apps, many of which belong to large companies such as Alibaba and Tencent and have resurfaced in new avatars.
New avatars: Many of these apps belong to large Chinese tech firms such as Tencent, Alibaba and gaming firm NetEase, and are “rebranded or rechristened avatars” of apps that have been banned in India since 2020.
Other casualties: The latest round of bans also included messaging and dating apps such as CuteU: Match With The World, CuteU Pro and FunChat Meet People Around You. Also on the list were video-based social media platforms such as SmallWorld, FancyU, MoonChat and RealU.
Several mobile apps, backed by global tech majors, that have been banned by India in recent years continue to operate in the country, industry members and privacy experts told us.
For instance? Bigo Live, which was among the first apps to be banned, continues to operate in India with a sizeable number of users. While it is not available for download on Google’s Play Store, users can easily install it with an APK file.
Sources also told us that several employees of Bigo and another app, Likee, have been moved to new entities such as Tiki mobile app, which is a Likee clone. The app, which is a platform for short videos, has over 50 million downloads on the Play Store.
After Oyo, Pharmeasy may have to pare its IPO
Online pharmacy PharmEasy may have to reduce the valuation it was aiming for through a public offering, industry sources told us, as new-age companies feel the pressure of a broader market rout.
Grey skies: PharmEasy’s shares are currently trading between Rs 70 and Rs 80 on the grey market. They had been trading at more than Rs 100 earlier this year.
PharmEasy’s parent company API Holdings is yet to get the final clearance from Sebi for its IPO and is also reconsidering the timing of its offering. Unlike Delhivery and Oyo Hotels & Homes, its IPO is entirely a primary share sale, with no offer-for-sale component.
In other IPO news: Vaibhav Gupta, CEO of business-to-business (B2B) ecommerce firm Udaan told ET that the company aims to launch its initial public offering (IPO) by May 2023.
Since Udaan is a Singapore-headquartered company the company may look at listing abroad, though it is still deciding where to list.
Also Read: Paytm, Zomato’s fate forcing Oyo Hotels and Delhivery to delay IPOs
Meanwhile, Oyo dodged a bullet on Monday when the Delhi High Court dismissed an interim appeal filed by Zostel (Zo Rooms) that had sought to halt its IPO. Zostel had said Oyo’s IPO was ‘non-maintainable’ as the company’s capital structure was not ‘final.’
Catch up quick: The dispute between the two companies dates back to 2015, when they signed a contract for Oyo to acquire Zostel.
RBI statements on crypto mark return of FUD
Tough talk by senior RBI officials on cryptocurrencies is making the Indian crypto community nervous, leading to the return of FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt).
What’s going on? On Monday, RBI Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar called for an outright ban on cryptocurrencies. “Banning cryptocurrency is perhaps the most advisable choice open to India and there are strong reasons to keep cryptocurrencies away from the formal financial system,” he said.
Previously, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das had said private cryptocurrencies were a threat to India’s macroeconomic and financial stability. He said investors should keep risks in mind as such assets had no underlying value whatsoever.
Meanwhile, cryptocurrency companies have asked the government to re-examine the budget proposal to impose a tax deducted at source, or TDS, on virtual digital asset transactions, saying it would be hard to comply with.
What else? They also urged the government to reconsider the decision to levy a tax of 30% of the current market value when crypto assets are gifted or given to employees as part of their remuneration. Their issue is that the tax is levied even if the receiver doesn’t sell it and book a profit.
Catch up quick: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has proposed a 30% tax on gains made from any private virtual digital assets from April 1. The budget has also proposed a 1% TDS on payments towards virtual currencies beyond Rs 10,000 in a year, and taxation of such gifts in the hands of the recipient.
WazirX cofounder: WazirX cofounder Nischal Shetty has denied reports that he intends to “transition out” of the cryptocurrency exchange.
According to news reports, WazirX cofounders Shetty (CEO) and Siddharth Menon (COO) had assumed a passive role in the company as both have embarked on ventures other than WazirX.
Bharatpe saga continues
New twist: The fintech firm, however, told it had not asked for Jain’s resignation. “The board of BharatPe has never sought any resignation from Ms Madhuri Jain,” BharatPe said in a reply to ET’s queries. “Hence the question of the board accepting her resignation does not arise. She was asked to go on a compulsory leave of absence on January 20,” it said.
Payback acquisition under scrutiny: Meanwhile, the ongoing scrutiny of BharatPe’s financial practises includes its very first acquisition, that of multi-brand loyalty platform Payback India last June, three sources told us.
Tapping Gen Z: BharatPe cofounder and chief executive Ashneer Grover is building on his Shark Tank India fame to promote a parallel personality away from the business world.
How? Through memes, interviews with creators and an active presence on social media channels, including professional networking site LinkedIn and photo and video sharing platform Instagram.
Quick-commerce is fast catching up
Swiggy’s Instamart and Mumbai-based ultrafast delivery startup Zepto will soon offer private label products amid heightened buzz in the segment, several people aware of the matter told us.
Private label products are goods manufactured by another party and sold under the name of offline and online retailers to help improve their margins. Many large brick-and-mortar retailers and ecommerce giants have private labels. Amazon sells many products under the brand Amazon Basics.
Crowded house: The development comes amid intensifying competition in the quick commerce space in India.
Meanwhile, Flipkart has started delivering groceries in 45 minutes in parts of Bengaluru through Flipkart Quick, which it had launched as a 90-minute delivery service in July 2020.
A source in Flipkart said the company was not overhauling its 90-minute delivery model, simply “optimising the steps” to reduce delivery times. Flipkart plans to expand the 45-minute service to more places next month, the source added.
India may draft new Data Bill from scratch
India may draft a completely new Data Protection Bill, people directly aware of the matter told ET, putting aside the current version of the Personal Data Protection Bill 2019. The bill, which has been in the making for nearly five years, does not comprehensively address the needs of India’s changing technology landscape, they said.
Concerns: One of the top concerns with the current bill is that it could hurt the country’s fledgling technology and startup ecosystem, senior officials said. The 2019 bill – drafted by a panel led by retired Supreme Court Judge BN Srikrishna – was reviewed by a Joint Committee of Parliament, which submitted its final recommendations and a revised draft bill only in November 2021.
Information overload is a bigger epidemic than the pandemic: Nandan Nilekani
India’s proposed digital rupee should be “anonymous” as concerns about surveillance will arise if all payment transactions are recorded and are visible, Infosys cofounder Nandan Nilekani told us.
Significance: The rapid digitalisation of economies worldwide is throwing up major challenges as countries seek to balance the need for regulations with people’s privacy.
What he said: The country will notch up a global first with the launch of its central bank digital currency (CBDC), and existing infrastructure such the Unified Payments Interface and Aadhaar will accelerate its launch, said the 66-year old technocrat.
ETtech Deals Digest
Debt marketplace CredAvenue said it has acquired a 75.1% stake in digital collections company Spocto to expand its product offerings. The acquisition will help CredAvenue include digital collection solutions for lenders and help mitigate risk and curb fraud on its platform. It will also help improve collection efficiency, the company said in a statement.
Fitness center chain Cult.fit said it has picked up a majority stake in F2 Fun & Fitness, thereby becoming the master franchise partner for Gold’s Gym in India. Cult.fit is a part of Cure.fit Healthcare which recently announced an investment from Zomato taking the company’s valuation to $1.5 billion.
Mamaearth, a direct-to-consumer (D2C) startup, has acquired Mumbai-based BBlunt from Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL). The deal comes as salon businesses have suffered amid the ongoing pandemic. Under the terms of the deal, BBlunt’s hair care and styling products business will be completely owned and managed by Mamaearth parent Honasa Consumer, while the two-decade-old salon business will continue to operate as an independent entity.
After legal blow, Karnataka may draft new law to ban online betting
Next steps: The government, Jnanendra said, was studying the judgement in detail, especially the sections of the law that the court said were not in conformity with the Constitution. The home minister said, “We would prefer to rectify these shortcomings, and work on an alternative draft that would stand in a court of law.”
Curated by Judy Franko in Delhi. Graphics and illustrations by Rahul Awasthi.
That’s all from us this week. Stay safe.
