Dream 11, MakeMyTrip To Head Internet Body As Big Tech Booted Out

Executives from Dream11, MakeMyTrip and Times Internet have reportedly been elected to the top spots of industry body Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) as local firms look to be at the helm of internet and tech policy in the country.

What Happened? Fantasy sports firm Dream11’s Harsh Jain has been named chairperson of the association’s executive council, while MakeMyTrip’s Rajesh Magow will take charge as vice chairperson and Times Internet’s Satyan Gajwani has been elected treasurer, Moneycontrol reported, citing sources.

Representation from global Big Tech players like Google and Meta was conspicuously absent from the new council. Sources told the publication that the decision was made intentionally.

See Also: Meta Tightens Its Belt: Major Exec Exits In India Amid Global Layoff Plan

The elections come amid discontent among Indian entrepreneurs over how much control Big Tech had over Indian internet policy as well as disagreements with Google over its Play Store and billing policies.

IAMAI, which was previously headed by Google’s country head Sanjay Gupta as chairman and Meta director Shivnath Thukral as vice chairperson, had come under fire from Indian counterparts for arguing against a separate digital competition framework to regulate “anti-competitive practices” by Big Tech companies in a draft submission.

Other members of the 24-member governing council include Anupam Mittal from People Interactive, Ashish Kashyap from IndMoney, Chintan Thakkar of Info Edge, Harshil Mathur from Razorpay, Miten Sampan from Cred, Rajendra Nalam of Paytm and Sameer Nigam from PhonePe.

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