Draft e-commerce policy soon, may install regulator: official
NEW DELHI: The government is likely to unveil a draft e-commerce policy in the next few weeks which could have a provision for a regulator for the booming sector, a senior government official said on Thursday, a day after the Centre tweaked foreign investment rules for the sector.
In addition, the government has ruled out any review of the revised FDI norms and said companies will have to comply with the February 1 deadline as there will be no extension.
Senior government officials backed the move to tighten rules saying it was done to boost competition in the sector.
“If we had thought that the deadline of one month couldn’t be met by e-commerce companies, we wouldn’t have decided on it,” said a senior government official.
Senior executives at FDI-backed e-commerce firms, however, said the one-month deadline would be difficult to meet as it calls for extensive restructuring of their operations.
“Existing joint ventures will have to be restructured and new companies or partnerships will have to be created. How is all this going to be possible in 30 days?” said a senior executive at a large e-tailer, who did not wish to be identified.
The soon-to-be-launched draft e-commerce policy is further expected to throw light on the matter. “It will talk about developing the e-commerce sector apart from having a strong focus on growing exports of domestic sellers through e-commerce,” said the official.
The government on Wednesday modified existing foreign investment rules in e-commerce barring e-commerce players, including Amazon and Flipkart from selling products from companies in which they have a stake. The tightened guidelines which is expected to have a major impact on top e-commerce players in the country, also banned them from selling exclusive-only products on their platforms, a move aimed at curbing the alleged practice of influencing prices.
Apart from asking companies to refrain from doling out preferential treatment to larger sellers, the policy put a cap on how much one vendor can sell on a particular platform.
“This was done to make it more of a marketplace and encourage good competition,’ said the official.
When asked about allegations by e-commerce players which said the regulatory framework lacks predictability, the official said, “The same policy is still there. There is no question of lack of stability. As e-commerce in its nascent stages in India, we have been gradually learning and tweaking rules where necessary.”
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