The national e-commerce policy will seek to create a conducive environment for the overall development of the sector and boost exports, department for promotion of industry and internal trade secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said.
A regulator for the sector will also be looked at, he said but indicated it might take more time for such a body to be in place.
According to the foreign trade policy, India’s e-commerce export potential is in the range of $200 billion to $300 billion annually by 2030.
Local traders’ associations have been demanding an empowered regulatory body to check against the violation of e-commerce rules. From time to time, traders have been alleging that the policy of barring deep discounts and preference to select sellers are being flouted by e-commerce platforms.
They have also been seeking greater clarity on the rules on FDI in e-commerce. The relevant rules notified by the consumer affairs ministry bans flash sales and deep discounts on online platforms. Also, foreign e-trade platforms are prevented from selling products of the firms in which they hold equity and striking exclusive deals with sellers using their platforms.
The e-commerce policy was first proposed in 2018 and in 2019, a draft of it was released. Since then the sector has grown manifold. The policy has been suitably drafted to align with the amendments proposed to be made in the Consumer Protection (e-commerce) Rules 2020 by the department of consumer affairs, Rajesh Kumar Singh said.
Apart from the FDI policy and the Consumer Protection Act, e-commerce is also governed by the Information Technology Act and the Competition Act.
In April of this year, the Standing Committee on Commerce, in its latest report on e-commerce regulation, recommended the creation of a Digital Markets Division within the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
The Division is expected to be tasked with regulation of the digital markets with participation from all the existing regulators concerned with e-commerce such as Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology as well as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Source: Financial Express
