Paytm Mall delists 85,000 sellers; denies action taken due to GST non-compliance

Paytm Mall has delisted 85,000 sellers associated with it to bring its e-commerce platform at par with the online shopping giants operating in India.

Launched earlier this year, Paytm Mall is the e-commerce arm of the electronic payment platform Paytm. The decision to take out 85,000 sellers in one go was reached after it found out that they did not conform to the quality standards required by Paytm Mall.

As part of company's new seller on-boarding policy, Paytm Mall has asked sellers to mandatorily submit their brand authentication letters before they are allowed to sell their goods on the e-commerce platform.

Sellers will also have to pass through more stringent quality and service audits involving their registration number, physical location and photographs of establishment, Goods and Services Tax Identification Number (GSTIN), etc.

The digital wallet platform, however, denied that the sellers were delisted on account of their non-compliance of new Goods and Services Tax regime.

The company plans to add 3,000 more employees to handle marketing, business development, back-end tech, reports said, with an eye on business expansion to the limit of a substantial footprint in tier-II and tier-III cities.

Paytm E-commerce announced the launch of its new Paytm Mall app on Android on February 27, allowing consumers to shop millions of products across varying categories from 1.4 lakh sellers, at the time of its launch.

Paytm Mall also offered a combination of the Mall and Bazaar concepts to Indian consumers. Only trusted sellers passing strict quality guidelines and qualification criteria will be allowed on the 'Mall'. All products listed on Paytm Mall are supposed to pass through Paytm certified warehouse and shipping channels ensuring guaranteed consumer trust.

The Paytm Mall has over 17 fulfillment centers across India. The company had claimed these centres would offer consumers the most trusted and efficient online shopping experience. The platform would also offer sellers a good reach through its vast network of over 40 courier partners.

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