Govt may Announce Policy for E-commerce Soon CAIT given hint at Conference

According to a report by PTI on Thursday, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) Secretary General, Praveen Khandelwal, attended a meeting with the Commerce Ministry and representatives from the e-commerce industry on August 2. The national e-commerce policy would likely be released by the government in the coming months, this was hinted at the conference.  Khandelwal mentioned that there was unanimity among all stakeholders about the basic pillars of the e-commerce policy and rules.

The Commerce Ministry held discussions with representatives of e-commerce firms and CAIT to address matters concerning the e-commerce sector, including the policy. The policy aims to create strategies that foster a conducive environment for the inclusive and harmonious growth of the e-commerce sector. It will work in alignment with consumer protection rules without conflicting with them.

Recently, CAIT sent a letter to Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal alleging that several foreign-funded e-commerce companies engage in unfair practices such as predatory pricing, deep discounting, and owning inventory. CAIT also requested the establishment of grievance redressal mechanisms by e-commerce companies to address the issue of misselling of goods and services.

Additionally, CAIT argued that the substantial FDI is not entering India through e-commerce but is rather disguised as FDI and used to support massive losses incurred by global e-tailers. The government official stated that the policy is in its final stages, and more information may be available in a couple of weeks. Both the policy and the rules will be aligned to complement each other.