Ecommerce companies have entered India and “blatantly” broken Indian laws in “more than one way,” according to Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, who also accused them of arrogance. All e-commerce companies, according to Piyush Goyal, should follow Indian rules and not use their muscle or money power to harm Indian interests.
“The Indian market is big and we welcome all players to come and participate. But clearly, we have to have them working within the rules and laws of the country. Unfortunately, many of these large e-commerce companies have come into India and very blatantly flouted the laws of the land, in more ways than one,” Piyush Goyal said on Saturday.
“I have had several engagements with these large companies, particularly the American ones, I can see a little bit of arrogance of their being big and their ability to finance large amounts of money in the initial stages to try and capture the Indian market or larger part of the Indian market particularly certain products to the detriment of our mom and pop stores,” he added.
However, Goyal did not name Amazon.com or Flipkart, India’s two largest e-commerce companies, nor did he specify the laws that he claimed were broken.
Goyal believes it is “extremely” unfair that they should be allowed to harm domestic interests or domestic consumers simply because they are large and have large pools of low-cost capital. “So, I think it will be good that all companies follow the law of the land and do not use muscle power or money power to try and hurt Indian interests,” he said.
Piyush Goyal also discussed the government’s recently released draught rules for e-commerce companies or marketplace models, which are applicable to all entities, including Indian companies. These rules, according to the minister, are in place to protect the interests of consumers.
The minister also brought up the issue of “predatory pricing,” claiming that these e-commerce companies are attempting to “influence market behaviour, their algorithms are attempting to influence consumer choice,” which is illegal in India.
“…and when asked about it, they keep delaying providing information, and when people complain to the CCI (Competition Commission of India), they immediately begin forum shopping in Indian courts. Why don’t these companies respond to CCI if they have nothing to hide and are following ethical business practises? “He inquired.
Flipkart and Amazon have filed an appeal against CCI’s request to reopen an investigation into their business practises after a judge dismissed their original pleas earlier this month.
“Now clearly the world is waking up to the realities of these large tech and big e-commerce companies,” he said, adding that several countries, including the United States, are working on anti-trust laws for e-commerce, and the UK’s competition and market authority has opened investigations into big tech, primarily US forms.
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, urging him not to weaken the draught e-commerce rules due to political pressure. CAIT also claimed that foreign-funded e-commerce companies’ unethical and illegal business practises have forced the closure of a large number of stores in the country.
“In the wake of expected pressure tactics of foreign funded e-commerce companies against the draft of e-commerce rules…(we urged) him (prime minister) to ensure that no dilution is made in draft of e-commerce rules under any pressure,” CAIT said in a statement.
