The movement from isolated world to interdependent world and now the interconnected world has been facilitated by technological advances. The competitive strength of these online businesses is also increasing and it is being determined by the amount, variety and quality of data these companies possess. The new data economy is where there is the rise of ‘multi-sided’ platform-based business models and the growing importance of cross-market digital ecosystems has become a game-changer in the world and these markets are heavily dependant on acquisition and monetisation of personal data of users. Several legal experts and policy critics have recently called on the antitrust regulators to incorporate data ownership into their mergers review and potentially anti-competitive practices.

The purpose of this research builds on the implied presumption that the Indian Competition Law in its current form has not captured in entirety the recent developments brought by Big data and digitised markets and the economic complexities that have resulted from the same. The research will attempt to draw analysis from various jurisdictions in the global developments and provisions concerning Big data and to see whether Indian Competition Law has the flexibility to include e-commerce and Big Data issues in our existing framework of competition laws and regulations or do we need to amend our laws specifically to deal with what digital markets necessitate to ensure fair play in the market.

Keywords: Big- Data, competition Laws, Merger, Digital Platforms, Abuse of Dominance

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