Government Anticipated Releasing E-commerce Rules & Policies. What Are You Hoping?
The union commerce and industry ministry is expected to come out with the e-commerce rules and policy in the next two weeks or post the ongoing parliament session, two people aware of the development said after the ‘final’ stakeholder consultation held with union minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday.
The industry minister is expected to come out with the e-commerce rules and policy in the next two weeks or post the ongoing parliament session.
What are E-commerce Policies and Rules?
The much-awaited e-commerce policy is widely expected to have provisions for the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to seek to democratize e-commerce in India by enabling buyers and sellers to transact through a single platform. ONDC is seen as a major threat to food-delivery platforms such as Swiggy and Zomato are two of them.
The e-commerce policy will be aligned with Amendment to Consumer Protection (E-commerce) Rules, 2020 that seeks to address complaints against “unfair trade” practices.
Where These Policies Led To?
The need to bring the policy and rules quickly and strengthen the grievance redressal mechanism so that consumers complained about rules and policies and saw the presence of e-commerce giants like Amazon, Flipkart, and others.
Khandelwal said that consumers are being made hostages by foreign-funded e-commerce companies and there is a need to release them from the vicious clutches of these companies by enacting e-commerce rules and policies.
Why Policies And Rules In E-commerce Companies?
It is necessary to constitute a Regulatory Authority to monitor and regulate e-commerce trade in India. Consumer interest should be first and foremost and no back door should be allowed. All the Policies and Rules must be followed by one and all. All e-commerce companies must obtain mandatory registration with DPIIT.
Every user's site uses an algorithm and guides customer choice towards one direction whoever gives them the highest premium or highest commission.
The policy indicates between the inventory-led and marketplace model. The policy could also include rules around fallback liability for e-commerce companies that shed more clarity on grievances.
Officials said that there has been a spike in the number of complaints against e-commerce companies but they also acknowledged that overall e-commerce transactions are emerging too.
