Penalties for Big Tech 'bullies': Shark Tank judge compares Apple, Google to East India Company

Big Tech companies like Apple and Google constantly draw criticism from various quarters for their collective monopoly of the digital world. The long list of critics nowhasa newaddition.AnupamMittal, one of the judges from the popular show Shark Tank India has compared the tech giants to the East India Company, the yesteryear global business behemoth which had lion's share in establishing the colonial British Empire in India and elsewhere in the world. In 19th century, shares of East Indian Company was almost like an infallible global currency, the status US Dollar enjoys today. But due to the company'spart in colonialism, the name East India Company has extremely negative connotations.

In an interview to Business Insider India, Mittal also called for penalties on the Big Tech 'bullies'.

"It is the new East India Company and they operate with complete arrogance and impunity...," he said.

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He made his case giving examples

"Startups spend anywhere between 10-50% of revenue on advertising on these platforms [like app stores] already. Essentially, the app store is worth nothing if you don’t have content....What choice does a company have but to adhere to their unfair practices… Now they say that any transaction that happens on apps downloaded via the store will be subject to 15-30% tax/commissions. What this means is that they want 50% of the revenues of the startups....," he said.

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He opined that getting the big tech companies to comply remains a challenge for governments across the world including India. Mittal said that in India, government and regulator have the right intent but a procedural solution needs to be found to get these companies to follow law of the land.

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"There should be penal provisions for anybody who abuses the law or twists and turns it while violating the very spirit of it. Non-compliance with judicial orders is contempt of court and so there is an opportunity to send a very strong message. These bullies need one arm chopped off in the form of penalties, a rap on the knuckles will not work as they are too big to care about a couple of hundred million in penalties," he told Business Insider.

(With inputs from agencies)