The way Union Minister for Commerce Shri Piyush Goyal has clarified the government’s stance on the country’s e-commerce trade at a press conference in Mumbai yesterday has been appreciated by traders across the country. In furtherance of the same, the CAIT said that the government should now take immediate action against Amazon and Flipkart, given the firmness that Mr. Goyal has emphasized on strict observance of FDI policy and has announced strict action against those not following it.
National President of CAIT Mr. BC Bhartia and Secretary General Mr. Praveen Khandelwal said that Mr. Goyal’s statement has come at a time when the offline business of the country is badly plagued by the unethical business model of these two companies since they are indulging in predatory pricing, giving huge discounts and compensating the losses to their sellers. The CAIT has already submitted the evidences of its charges to Mr. Goyal and the officials of the Ministry and in pursuance of the same now CAIT has demanded that Mr. Goyal should take immediate action on online companies, as per his firm statement.
Mr. Bhartia and Mr. Khandelwal have said that due to unethical commercial practices of Amazon and Flipkart around 40 thousand mobile shops are on the verge of closure by Diwali, while FMCG, electronics, electrical, gift items, garments, watches etc have suffered huge losses in offline market, Trade in Mobile sector has fallen to about 60% whereas in other sectors it has registered a decline of 30% to 40% sales. other business sectors such as footwear has fallen by about 30 to 40 percent in the month of October, The CAIT has said that if the government did not take action soon, the retail business of the country will be severely affected and there will be an outcry in the business class across the country.
Meanwhile, a delegation of CAIT reached out to the Competition Commission of India on this issue and in a meeting with the Chairman of the commission Mr. Ashok Kumar Gupta, apprised him as to how , the online companies are trapping the country’s business in the vicious cycle of unethical competition. It is astonishing that these Companies are running into losses of thousands of crores of rupees every year, yet they are continuing with their business model which could be possible only when they are supported by their investors The CAIT has urged for the intervention of the commission in establishing a fair market in the country. In this meeting, the Economic Adviser of the Commission, Mrs. Payal Malik was also present!
Talking to the CAIT delegation, Mr. Ashok Kumar Gupta said that the commission is committed to establishing a uniform and competitive business environment in the country and if anyone adopts unhealthy trading practices, influencing prices in any manner and create an uneven level playing field in the market, the Commission will sure take action as per law. On the documents submitted by CAIT, Shri Gupta ordered the commission officials to study the documents and after that the commission will decide what action should be taken.
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