CAIT supports government on proposed e-commerce amendments

The Confederation for All India Traders (CAIT) has supported the Indian government in its recently proposed e-commerce amendments.

The government has proposed to make certain amendments to its Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules 2020 including banning flash sales, necessitating more thorough item descriptions, and limiting the sale of in-house brands, CAIT sees these amendments as a way to prevent foreign-owned e-commerce businesses from dominating the market but other groups have received the proposed amendments poorly.

The proposed amendments also include instructing retailers to always recommend a ‘Made in India’ alternative to any foreign-made product to promote domestic production. There have been criticisms that this harms the concept of free consumer choice.

However, CAIT has praised the proposal. The organization has run campaigns to encourage its member traders to go online but has argued that foreign-owned e-commerce platforms are harming Indian businesses’ ability to do business online which is in-turn harming Indian traders.