Taking a note of resentment of offline players against E Commerce marketplaces on their alleged “unethical” business practices, the Commerce and Industry Ministry has set up a grievance redressal mechanism to look into the charges against e-tailers.
Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that on the lines of the ‘twitter seva’ of this ministry, “there is now going to be grievance redressal akin to the (hashtag) ‘#mociseva’ which will have the consumer affairs people on board”.’
Traders bodies like, CAIT gave their representations on the issue to the minister in a meeting held recently in the national capital. The meeting was attended by Enforcement Directorate officials, Niti Aayog, Consumer Affairs and the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
Sitharaman said people can raise their issues on this and the ministry’s team along with the officials of the consumer affairs would respond to those complaints. The DIPP would train the staff of the consumer affairs on handling such grievances taking on board the e-commerce companies alleged to have hurt the traders.
Also Read: Govt Mulls To Liberalize E Commerce Policy; OLS To Gain
Sitharaman further said DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek has also discussed the matter with e-commerce companies and has asked them not to violate e-commerce guidelines.
“Some companies responded that they are not giving those discounts. We are still a marketplace model, the companies (vendors) whose products are coming on their (platform) are giving that and it is not violative of the policy,” PTI report published in First Post quoted Sitharaman as saying.
The Consumer Affairs Ministry should actually be attending to such grievances coming on the issue of e-commerce because its a commercial transaction between a consumer and a company, she said.
The DIPP has asked online retailers to strictly comply with the e-commerce guidelines. The ministry has received lot of complaints by stakeholders including traders body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).
Demanding immediate action, CAIT had filed a complaint with DIPP alleging that major e-tailers are blatantly violating FDI norms. It has stated that during the past few days companies have given big advertisements in media announcing sale on their online platform which is a violation of FDI guidelines on e-commerce.
In March, the government had allowed 100 per cent FDI through automatic route in the marketplace format of e-commerce retailing. As per the guidelines issued by the DIPP, foreign direct investment (FDI) has not been permitted in inventory-based model of e-commerce. The guidelines also states that such entities will not directly or indirectly influence the sale price of goods and services and shall maintain level playing field.