CAIT slams USISPF for terming new e-commerce rules as 'regressive'

Traders' body CAIT on Saturday criticised US-India Strategic Partnership Forum's statement terming as "regressive" the recent changes in e-commerce rules.

In a statement, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) alleged that it was an attempt of companies like Walmart and Amazon to fire a shot through the shoulders of organisations like USISPF to pressurise the Indian government to bring further changes to their advantage.

CAIT cautioned that any changes made "under the undue pressure of these lobbies will be strongly and stoutly opposed by the traders of India".

"It is highly regretted that powerful MNCs through their respective government try to act as a big brother and in name of consumers and farmers they try to change policies of developing countries," the trader' body said.

The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) had dubbed the new e-commerce rules as "regressive" and said that the changes would harm consumers, create unpredictability and have a negative impact on the growth of online retail in India.
 

The forum has asserted that "it is not the government's business to micro-manage businesses" and alleged that the amendments announced came out without any consultation and are akin to changing rules in the middle of the game.

Earlier this week, the government appeared to have yielded to demands of domestic traders and put in place new norms, which would end discounts and cashback offers that online platforms with foreign investment were offering. The new rules are set to come into effect from February 2019.