E-marketplace majors viz. Amazon and Walmart-backed Flipkart now have no option but to change their approach of doing business in India as the deadline to comply with the government's new clarification on the policy for the foreign direct investment (FDI) in e-commerce ended on January 31, 2019.
Claiming victory on the non-extension of the deadline, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) complimented the government for taking the bold move saying it is strong step to clean the highly vitiated e-commerce market of the country.
Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general, CAIT, said that post-independence it is for the first time that the voice of small traders has been heard and acted upon by any government despite strong and hard lobbying by the vested interest e-commerce players and the US Government. "It amply testifies that our policies are sovereign and deserve no advise or pressure from any quarter," he said in a statement.
Khandelwal added that the policy now needs to be implemented strictly in its letter and spirit. For this to happen, he said, a regulatory authority should be formed at the earliest possible to regulate and monitor the e-commerce business of India and much-awaited e-commerce policy should be formulated and announced.
"A special investigation team (SIT) should be constituted to investigate business modal of major e-commerce players made in past two years and the restriction stipulated in policy should be implemented on domestic players as well," he said.
Both Amazon and Flipkart did not share any details about compliance and changes being made to their respective operations in the country.
Responding to DNA Money, an Amazon spokesperson, said, "While we remain committed to complying with all laws and regulations, we will continue to look to engage with the government to seek clarifications that help us decide our future course of action as well as minimise the impact on our customers and sellers."