Dream 11 CEO and founder Harsh Jain is set to become the chairperson of the 24-member governing council of industry body Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). But as Indian entrepreneurs try to gain control of policy-making in the growing technology and startup sector, it was decided to not include Big Tech companies in the government council.
Other elected members of IAMAI
Alongside Jain, Rajesh Magow of MakeMyTrip was appointed vice chairperson and Satyan Gajwani of the Times Internet was given the position of Treasurer, reported Moneycontrol. Whereas Shubho Roy will be the president ex-officio on the executive council.
The other members include Alok Mittal of Indifi, Ajay Kaushal of Billdesk, Vishwas Patel of Infibeam Avenues, Aloke Bajpai of Ixigo, Sameer Nigam of PhonePe, Anant Goenka of Indian Express, Rohan Verma of MapmyIndia, DInesh Agarwal of IndiaMart, Neeraj Roy of Hungama, Harshil Mathur of Razorpay, Rajendra Nalam of Paytm, J Murugavel of Matrimony.com and Naveen Kukreja of Paisa Bazaar.
The appointments are based on the election that was announced by the industry body on May 15, 2023. According to the IAMAI there were 83 members contesting for the election for the 24-member council.
Why are Big Tech Companies not part of the IAMAI?
According to Moneycontrol, the decision to not include big tech companies was a conscious decision. This move is expected to satisfy the sentiments of the Indian entrepreneurs that were hoping for more representations for the Indian companies.
The decision was taken as many believed that the industry body and Indian internet organisation were approving the demands by Big Tech companies like Google. The decision was after a controversy broke out in the IAMAI in April after Indian and foreign companies argued against the need for a separate digital competition framework for regulating anti-competitive practices by the Big Tech companies like Google and Meta.
The Indian entrepreneurs were against the decision by IAMAI as they believed there was a need for a digital competition law. They also said that the decisions clearly showed the composition of leadership in the government body.
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