The Joint Parliamentary Committee on Personal Data Protection Bill on Thursday questioned tech giant Google and e-commerce company Paytm a...

The Joint Parliamentary Committee on Personal Data Protection Bill on Thursday questioned tech giant Google and e-commerce company Paytm about Chinese investment in their businesses, NDTV reported.
Unidentified officials told the news channel that Google was specifically asked about its links with China. The committee also asked Google how much revenue it generated and the amount of corporate tax it paid in India. The company was asked to give the details in writing.
The officials added that the questioning of the two companies focused on “conflict of interest”. They were also asked how neutral they were in managing online content and where the two companies hosted users’ data.
Representatives from Google told the committee that the company had walked out of China on its own, Hindustan Times reported. The committee, however, sought to know if Google still had links with China, since its Android software is used by several mobile phone makers in the country.
Paytm said that though Chinese firm Alibaba was one of its investors, it did not have any say in the company’s operations.
Also read: Amazon refuses to appear before Parliament committee to discuss Data Protection Bill
Google representatives told the committee that India should avoid data localisation requirements, according to The Indian Express. They said that the requirements were not...