No e-commerce regulator is currently in the works, the minister informs Parliament
With India's e-commerce business expected to increase to $111.4 billion by 2025 from $46.2 billion in 2020, several merchant associations have urged for a policy.
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Som Prakash, a minister of state for commerce and industry, stated in front of the legislature on August 3 that there are currently no plans for the government to create an independent regulator for e-commerce platforms.
The announcement comes as trade associations have called for closer supervision of the recently flourishing e-commerce industry, accusing foreign businesses of breaking investment restrictions and engaging in anti-competitive behaviour.
In response to a query in the Lok Sabha, Prakash stated, "At the moment, there is no proposal under discussion for establishing an independent regulator for e-commerce platforms.
The Consumer Protection Act of 2019, the Competition Act of 2002, and the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act of 2017 are just a few of the legislation that the minister cited as governing the e-commerce sector.
The e-commerce policy has not been finalised three and a half years after it was announced because negotiations are still ongoing.
According to sources, officials claim that progress on the policy has slowed down because numerous other topics are now covered by other laws and because there are still disagreements within ministries.
A draught of the strategy was last made public in February 2019, at which point it drew criticism from both business and civic society.
Consumer advocacy groups claimed that the system was severely skewed in favour of select players, while Indian firms claimed that the interests of indigenous businesses had not been sufficiently protected.
Large e-commerce platforms are under fire from the parliamentary standing committee on commerce, which says India should select "gatekeeper" platforms of a specific scale that require more supervision.
According to the committee, India has to update and reinforce its ex-ante regulatory framework and take steps to identify the organisations that serve as gatekeeper platforms.
In order to identify organisations that serve as gatekeeper platforms, it has been recommended that the Competition Act, 2002 be amended to include additional quantitative criteria, such as the number of registered or active buyers and sellers on the platform, the number of transactions occurring, and the volume of revenue generated.
According to Reuters, the Indian Competition Commission conducted a search of the offices of prominent Amazon sellers in April due to alleged violations of the country's competition regulations.
According to the India Brand Equity Foundation, a trust established by the department of commerce, the e-commerce policy is anticipated to have a significant impact on India's e-commerce market, which is anticipated to grow to $111.4 billion by 2025 from $46.2 billion in 2020 as a result of increased internet availability and smartphone ownership.
