E Commerce in every sector is in huge loss- Do India need such E Commerce- CAIT

CAIT demands Piyush Goyal to order investigate of all e-commerce companies 

The national agitation being run by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) against the unfair practices of e-commerce companies successfully put the concerns of the small traders of the country and it is appreciated that the Government has taken in due cognizance. The CAIT today has sent a letter to the Union Commerce Minister, Mr. Piyush Goyal urging him for an investigation of E-commerce companies not only in retail but also working in transport, travel, food, medical and other verticals and not only their business module but their respective foreign investments and its disbursal, aspect of avoidance of GST & Income Tax revenue and probabilities of burning cash by them should also be investigated.

The CAIT further said that while the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is repeatedly talking about strengthening the domestic trade and small scale industry, there is a great need to remove the inconsistencies and the ever-toxic environment of the country’s e-commerce in India. CAIT has also urged Mr. Piyush Goyal to roll out the e-commerce policy immediately and to set up either a regulatory authority or an e-commerce ombudsman for e-commerce so that the e-commerce market develops in a healthy manner in the country. 

However, the CAIT has organized a traders conference at New Delhi on 27th January on the role of traders in making Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision to make India a 5 trillion economy. Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Mr. Piyush Goyal will interact with the traders & Trade leaders from about 12 states including Delhi. 

Mr. BC Bhartia National President and Secretary General Mr. Praveen Khandelwal in a letter to Mr. Piyush Goyal said that the country’s e-commerce business needs to be conducted in a holistic way. It is quite amazing that every e-commerce company engaged in e-commerce business not only in retail but other allied sectors like transport, travel, food, medical and others are sustaining huge losses every year and still conducting their business activities. The huge losses the e-commerce platforms are incurring are discounting expenses by burning cash which they are reflecting in their annual glance sheet as technology, marketing, delivery and other promotional activities. 

In a chart in the letter to Shri Goyal, the CAIT quoted figures of annual revenue and annual loss for the fiscal period ending 2019 stated that  Amazon had revenue of Rs 7593 crore but the annual loss is Rs 5685 crore and similarly the annual revenue of Flipkart is 4234 crore, while the loss is 1625 crore, Paytm 968 crore and loss 1171 Crore, OYO 6457 crore and loss 2385 crore, Big Basket 2381 crore and loss 348 crore, Grofers 84 crore while loss 448 crore , Zomato 1462 Crore and Loss 2087 Crore, Swiggy 1128 Crore and Loss 2363 Crore, Ola Cab 2543 Crore Loss 2593 Crore, Delhivery 1695 Crore and Loss 1772 Crore, Lenskart 474 Crore and Loss 28 Crore, Pepperfry 193 Crore and Loss 183 Crore, Rivigo 1028 Crore and Losses 600 Crores, Make My Trip 3450 Crores and Losses 1190 Crores, PhonePay 184 Crores and Losses 1907 Crores, Medlife Revenue 363 Crores and Losses 403 Crores. Apart from these, the annual loss of e-commerce companies working in all other areas is more than their annual revenue. It is astonishing that despite the huge losses, these companies are also doing business continuously. 

Mr. Bhartia and Mr. Khandelwal said that what kind of business model is this where the business is accruing losses every year.If this is the e comma ce model, it is always better to say a big NO to e-commerce in India or else the Government should take immediate effective steps to remove anomalies, disparities and malpractices in E-Commerce business. 

Mr. Bhartia and Mr. Khandelwal clearly stated that the traders of the country are not against e-commerce, but are adopting e-commerce as an additional business beside their physical stores. However, the big companies in e commerce have highly distorted the e-commerce market for their own gains which need to be tackled by the Government immediately.