Regulation of e-commerce necessary to protect consumers, spur growth: Prabhu

The government can regulate the e-commerce industry in a manner that safeguards the interests of the consumer and at the same time help the industry grow, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu said on Tuesday.

“The industry has grown so far even without government support,” Mr. Prabhu said while addressing the meeting of the e-commerce think tank set up by the government.

“The question is how can we make the sector, which is a B2C sector, grow keeping in mind the larger interest of the consumers. So, regulation is something which the government can do, but it must be such that it actually helps industry to grow.” He added that the government is expecting strong growth in the domestic e-commerce market and is preparing accordingly.

“India is poised to be a $5 trillion economy in 7-8 years, maybe even less than seven years,” the Minister added. “Today, services are almost two-third of the economy, and we feel very strongly that services will continue to be a growth engine of the economy. Now, the great dominant sector in services is the IT sector.”

He added that due to the influence of the IT sector, there were increases in the productivity and efficiency of a number of other sectors.

Digital vs paper

“Almost 70% of railway tickets were booked online, when I was Railway Minister,” he said. “We found out through a survey that people want those digital services more than paper-based services. So, how can we make e-commerce grow even more?” The Minister added that the government would consult all stakeholders, including consumers, before coming out with any policy to do with e-commerce.

“The regulations must not interfere with the functioning of the industry,” Mr. Prabhu said. “And it must be robust and flexible and forward-looking and must follow technology.”