This is absolutely true and I am referring to Bangalore - the so-called IT capital of India. Here the Internet access is completely controlled by the mafia. But in a lot of cities, this is not the case.
Then you should take a better look. Each local ISP has their own self-designated territory or "area". They don't let any other ISPs establish themselves in their areas, beating them up or cutting their wires if they try - you can talk to any ISP technician and they'll tell you about it. 90% of the fluctuations in network are from a cable cut, often by competing agencies.
It's also one of the big reasons why AirFibre is becoming more prominent - can't cut cables if there are no cables.
The above commentor uses "mafia" not in the literal sense but he's talking about the mafia-like system where each ISP has territories they fight over.
Tbh, it's manageable in Bangalore, since the territories are already established and there's not much interference but much more horrible in other areas - we had to suffer with a shitty ISP in my hometown for years bc they kept cutting cables & bullying any other ISP that tried to come in.
Actually, I am talking about a literal mafia. In my area there is just one "official" internet provider (Airwire) which is partly owned / controlled by a politician who was recently accused of killing a property owner who refused to sell the property for peanuts to him.
If any other internet provider enters this area, their people get beaten and their lines get cut. They cause problems for even BSNL which is a government-owned provider. They periodically cut their lines.
So yes, this is an actual mafia. I have been warned by them that I don't any choice but take their lines. They even threaten you if you take products like Jio airfiber.
I have access to airtel, act broadband, jio fiber, bsnl and earlier hathway and I have switched between them and no one cut my cable and gave me grief ... no mafia present in our and the surrounding areas. Ofc the kinda ppl you talk abt may be there, but we shld not generalize.
This is India. If people are informally reporting corruption in some institution, you'll be on the right track if you believe it to be true. There will never be any formal studies of such cartels. Journalists who attempt to report on such things are regularly murdered. Most people are simply oblivious. You saw in the main e-waste story how the journalist seemed oblivious to the cartel in front of his eyes. If you stay in an independent house, not a flat, you might want to look into cartels of water tankers too.
