Sideloading: A National Security Threat

Description: Competition authorities, in India and across the globe, are increasingly proscribing sideloading. Sideloading entails downloading an application from outside the perimeter of a first-party app store, such as, the Apple AppStore or the Google Play Store.

In India, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs introduced the Draft Digital Competition Bill (DDCB) 2024. The DDCB introduces ex-ante obligations for large digital entities classified as “Systemically Significant Digital Enterprises” in the name of enhancing fairness and contestability. Section 13(a) of the Bill prohibits these entities from restricting or impeding the ability of users to download third-party applications or software. This means that even the warning shown to Android users about the risks of sideloading would not be permitted under this provision.

This report evaluates the security implications of enabling sideloading in the interest of promoting digital competition.

Attribution: Karnal Singh, Meghna Bal and Mohit Chawdhry. Sideloading: A National Security Threat. Issue No. 52, 2025, Esya Centre.

Dark Patterns in Indian Retail: An Empirical Examination

Description: This report explores the increasing use of dark patterns in India’s retail sector. India’s retail sector is a cornerstone of its economic growth, contributing Rs 20.18 lakh crore in Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections in FY 2024 and ranking among the top five start-up segments in the country. However, this sector is facing rising scrutiny for employing manipulative design tactics that undermine user autonomy.

This report finds that dark patterns are prevalent across both online and offline retail environments, though they are more readily identifiable in digital contexts. It critiques the disproportionate regulatory focus on e-commerce, noting that many of the flagged practices resemble long-standing marketing strategies. In this context, an ex-ante regulatory framework may not be appropriate for dark pattern regulation. 

The report recommends a reliance on a principles-based approach that emphasizes transparency and willful consent to safeguard consumer interest while mitigating the risk of harming innovation.

Attribution: Meghna Bal, Dr Vikash Gautam, and Tamanna Sharma. Dark Patterns in Indian Retail: An Empirical Examination, Issue No. 51, 2025, Esya Centre.

Assessing the Impact of the Draft Digital Competition Bill , 2024 on the Indian Economy

Description: This report analyses the economic impact of ex-ante competition regulation on digital markets in India. While digital markets share similarities with traditional markets, they possess distinct characteristics that have attracted the attention of antitrust regulators. Drawing on empirical research, the report assesses how a shift from ex-post to ex-ante regulation affects economic welfare indicators such as producer and consumer surplus, productivity, investment, and employment.

Attribution: Dr Vikash Gautam and Meghna Bal. Assessing the Impact of the Draft Digital Competition Bill, 2024 on the Indian Economy. 2025, Esya Centre.

Rethinking Data and Competition : A Critical Assessment of the Data-Driven Market Tipping Theory

Description: This paper focuses on data-driven network effects as a purported driver of tipping—namely, the theory that both direct and indirect network effects, fuelled by data accumulation, reduce the cost of innovation for first movers and enable them to entrench their market positions and monopolize digital ecosystems. It argues that while this theory is intuitively appealing, it rests on a narrow and increasingly outdated understanding of how data functions in digital markets. Its continued dominance in policy discourse risks misdiagnosing the sources of market power and incentivizing regulatory overreach. Instead, competition law frameworks must adopt a more nuanced, evidence-based approach—one that accounts for the fluidity, heterogeneity, and strategic deployment of data, rather than treating it as a static source of monopolistic power. By doing so, regulators can better distinguish between genuinely exclusionary conduct and competitive, innovation-driven behaviour in the digital economy.

Attribution: Meghna Bal, Shweta Venkatesan and Mohit Chawdhry, Rethinking Data and Competition: A Critical Assessment of The Data-Driven Market Tipping Theory, May 2025, Esya Centre

Web 3.0 Gaming in Crypto and Fiat Arcade: A Token-based Market Assessment

Description: This report addresses important gaps in the understanding of W3G by examining its market characteristics, relationships with other financial instruments, and investment appeal. It analyses key aspects such as the factors driving user adoption of W3G – including play-to-earn (P2E) models, social engagement, and gaming environment interoperability – as well as the diverse monetisation strategies underpinning the W3G ecosystem. The report also evaluates the risk-return dynamics of W3G tokens in comparison to cryptoassets and fiat currencies.

Attribution: Dr. Vikash Gautam. Web 3.0 Gaming in Crypto and Fiat Arcade: A Token-based Market Assessment. Issue No. 049, February 2025, Esya Centre.

A Survey of Indian AI Start-ups in Agriculture: Opportunities, Challenges, and Recommendations for the Way Forward

Description: With agriculture supporting over 70% of rural households in India, AI-based agritech solutions have the potential to transform the sector by enhancing productivity, optimizing resources, and mitigating climate challenges. In this report, Meghna Bal, Mohit Chawdhry, and Akanksha Dutta explore how Indian AI agritech start-ups are pioneering solutions across the agricultural value chain, from soil health monitoring to livestock management and weather prediction.  The report provides insights from our survey of start-ups: AI-Genix International Pvt. Ltd, Areete.AI, Krisiyukta, and Digicrop Agriculture Solutions,  which are at the forefront of providing AI-driven agritech solutions.

Attribution: Meghna Bal, Mohit Chawdhry, and Akanksha Dutta. A Survey of Indian AI Start-ups in Agriculture: Opportunities, Challenges, and Recommendations for the Way Forward. Issue No. 048, January 2025, Esya Centre.

Drafting Standards for AI Systems: Critiques of International Approaches and Recommendations for India

Description: This report offers a detailed analysis of global AI governance standards, particularly the AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF) by NIST and ISO 42001:2023. It critiques these international frameworks for being overly generalized, focusing on their "one-framework-fits-all" approach, which may not adequately address the diverse applications and contexts of AI technologies. The report advocates for a tailored approach to AI governance in India, moving away from broad frameworks to more specific, context-driven standards.

Attribution: Meghna Bal. Drafting Standards for AI Systems: Critiques of International Approaches and Recommendations for India. October 2024, Esya Centre.

Towards a Stablecoin Regulatory Framework in India

Description: Stablecoins are a distinct class of virtual digital assets (VDAs) backed by fiat currencies, commodities, or other assets. They aim to maintain a stable value, thereby distinguishing them from other VDAs. The increasing prominence of stablecoins, especially in developing economies like India, necessitates the development of a balanced regulatory framework to leverage their potential while addressing associated risks. In light of the current absence of stablecoin-specific regulations in India, this document proposes a four-step process for developing a comprehensive regulatory framework.

Attribution: Mohit Chawdhry. Towards a Stablecoin Regulatory Framework in India. August 2024, Esya Centre.

User Engagement in Traditional Financial, Crypto, and Stablecoin Markets in India

Description: In recent years, several surveys have been conducted to understand the demographic characteristics of crypto-asset users and their motivations for adoption. However, a holistic assessment of user investment portfolios that encompass the various instruments in the crypto space, alongside traditional financial instruments, is lacking. This report attempts to fill this gap by analysing user engagement with assets like gold, equity/stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and cryptoassets of various types (i.e. unbacked cryptoassets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, nonfungible tokens or NFTs and stablecoins).

Attribution: Vikash Gautam. User Engagement in Traditional Financial, Crypto, and Stablecoin Markets in India. July 2024, Esya Centre.

A Survey-Based Assessment of the Draft Digital Competition Bill’s Impact on Consumer Welfare in Markets

Description: This report analyses the potential impact of the ex-ante regulation proposed in the Draft Digital Competition Bill, 2024 (DDCB) on consumers. It presents findings from a survey of 2,028 consumers from 28 Indian states we conducted in February and March 2024.

Attribution: Meghna Bal, Dr. Vikash Gautam, Tamanna Sharma, and Mohit Chawdhry, A Survey-Based Assessment of the Draft Digital Competition Bill’s Impact on Consumer Welfare in Markets. July 2024, Esya Centre.

Taxes and Takedowns: an Assessment of India’s Key Policy Tools for Virtual Digital Asset Markets

Description: This report examines the ecosystem impact of the blocking of the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of nine foreign virtual digital asset (VDA) exchanges in January 2024. These exchanges saw large increases in trading volumes following the changes in the VDA tax architecture announced in the 2022-23 Union Budget. This report therefore examine whether the blocking managed to stem this offshoring, to assess its effectiveness as a policy lever to ensure compliance with local laws for areas like taxation and anti-money laundering.

Attribution: Dr. Vikash Gautam and Tamanna Sharma. Taxes And Takedowns: An Assessment Of India’s Key Policy Tools For Virtual Digital Asset Markets. Issue No. 042, May 2024, Esya Centre.

Literature Review on Gender Bias in Generative AI: Implications for India and Recommendations for the Way Forward

Description: Generative AI, known for its ability to generate new content and insights, is reshaping the landscape of human-computer interaction and decision making. Alongside its many benefits, however, generative AI presents unique challenges, particularly in terms of its differentiated impact on people of different genders. This paper seeks to understand how gender bias manifests across the value chain of generative AI, through a comprehensive review of academic work and reports by international organizations. It makes recommendations for policymakers, developers, and deployers for mitigating gender bias and reducing the bias-related harms that emanate from generative AI.

Attribution: Meghna Bal, Mohit Chawdhry and Noyanika Batta. A Literature Review on Gender Bias in Generative AI: Implications for India and Recommendations for the Way Forward. April 2024, Esya Centre.

A Survey-Based Assessment of the Impact of the Draft Digital Competition Bill, 2024 on MSMEs in India

Description: This paper seeks to understand the extent to which micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) rely on large digital platforms to advertise to and attract customers, and the impact on MSMEs when regulation or legislation restricts them from doing do so. The triggers for this research paper are developments in some countries to enact ex ante antitrust regulations that seek to limit the ability of digital platforms to provide effective advertising and other services. These rules ignore the well-recognised benefits that MSMEs derive from accessing them.

Attribution: Meghna Bal and Dr Vikash Gautam. A Survey-Based Assessment of the Impact of the Draft Digital Competition Bill, 2024 on MSMEs in India. March 2024, Esya Centre.

An Empirical Evaluation of the Implementation Challenges of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023

Description: This report examines the challenges to implementing India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDPA). Seeking to understand the operational and technical hurdles faced by organisations to the Act’s enforcement, the report delves into aspects related to the implementation of consent mechanisms, provisions for children and persons with disabilities, and the intricacies of appointing data protection officers. Specifically, it explores the internal processes required for compliance and establishes the timelines necessary for meeting the DPDPA’s obligations.

Attribution: Meghna Bal and Gopal Jain. An Empirical Evaluation of the Implementation Challenges of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023: Insights and Recommendations for the Way Forward. January 2024, Esya Centre.

The Pitfalls of Regulating M2M Communication Services under Telecom Law

Description: This primer questions the effect of regulating machine-to-machine (M2M) communication services by using telecom law in India. It responds to the Draft Indian Telecommunication Bill 2022, on which comments have been sought by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which defines a ‘telecommunication service’ to include ‘machine-to-machine communication services’ – suggesting that telecom style regulation may be applied to M2M communications as well. It outlines the technology that underpins M2M services, the regulatory issues that may arise as they gain use, asks whether telecom law is suited to redressing these concerns, and concludes with recommendations.

Attribution: Mohit Chawdhry, The Pitfalls of Regulating M2M Communication Services under Telecom Law, October 2023, Esya Centre.

G20 Digital Asset Regulation Tracker

G20 Digital Asset Regulation Tracker: To trace developments in the rapidly evolving field of digital asset regulation, the Esya Centre created the Digital Asset Regulation Tracker. The tracker provides an overview of the status of digital asset regulation in G20 nations. The idea is to create a ready reckoner for stakeholders interested in digital asset regulation in G20 countries. 

Navigating Approaches to AI Governance: Charting a Pathway for India

Description: The clarion call for the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) is growing louder across the world. Different jurisdictions have either introduced legislation to regulate the technology or are in the process of doing so. Aside from hard-coded laws, a bevy of voluntary standards have emerged around trust and safety concepts surrounding the deployment and development of AI. This paper presents a roundup of different approaches to AI regulation and governance, as well as the intersection of existing legal doctrines and AI. The purpose of this paper is to put forth considerations for Indian policymakers to take into account when deciding on AI governance down the road.

Attribution: Meghna Bal and Vivan Sharan. Navigating Approaches to AI Governance: Charting a Pathway for India. August 2023, Esya Centre.

Why India Needs an Intermediary Liability Framework for Web3 and What it Should Look Like

Description: The World Economic Forum defines Web3 as a growing segment of decentralised technologies that help “establish provenance, veracity, and value of data.” Web3 technologies, which include cryptography, distributed ledger systems, smart contracts and fungible and non-fungible digital assets, aim to redress the centralisation of data, with large Web2 internet companies, by returning ownership and control to users. This paper argues that the digital product aspect of Web3 should be regulated under a specialised intermediary liability framework targeting centralised Web3 or Web2.5 entities. Such a framework would ensure Web3 digital product risk redressal, while still enabling entrepreneurs to innovate.

Attribution: Meghna Bal and Mohit Chawdhry. Why India Needs an Intermediary Liability Framework for Web3 and What it Should Look Like. August 2023, Esya Centre.