Pesticide sale via e-com sites welcome but may see more fakes, fear players

The domestic industry has welcomed the recent government order allowing sale of pesticides through e-commerce platforms.

However, a section of players is wary of the proliferation of counterfeit products unless more checks and balances are put in place.

The Centre — in a gazette notification issued a few days back — allowed the sale of insecticides through e-commerce platforms, subject to certain guidelines and requirements.

The e-commerce entities — before allowing sale of pesticides through their respective platforms — have to verify the validity of the licence issued by the concerned authorities.

Also, both the e-commerce platform and the licensee, who wants to sell the pesticides, have to comply with the relevant rules and Acts of the Consumer Protection Act.

Though there are enough safeguards to prevent misuse of the facility by unscrupulous elements, some players are wary of a rise in fake pesticides. This is because it has happened with several other products sold through e-commerce platforms.

“The positive side is that end users of pesticides may get a product, which is fairly priced as dealer margins will come down, and this is big in the pesticides industry. However, sales through e-commerce platforms could further inflate the fake markets unless proper checks and balances are enforced,” a senior industry executive said.

According to a Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) study in 2015, spurious and illegal pesticides comprised around 25 per cent by value and 30 per cent by volume of the domestic pesticide industry in 2013.

Currently, the Indian pesticides industry is around Rs 86,000 crore and it is growing at over 11 per cent per annum.

“Apart from crop loss and damage to soil fertility, use of non-genuine products leads to loss of revenue for farmers, industry and the government,” the FICCI report had then said.

“The response mechanism will be fast for any company as the buying behaviour will play a big role in the decision making mechanism of companies. The purchase behaviour and data related to purchases will give a transparent idea to all stakeholders in making a consumer-centric policy.

The flow of capital can be controlled and will be a very good move for companies that strictly go by “law of the land,” said Kalyan Goswami, director-general of Agro Chem Federation of India.

“This gives the farmer a chance for informed pricing decisions. Hence, the purchase experience can be good for the purchaser,” said Parikshit Mundhra, chairman of the federation.

Taking the e-way

• Centre allows pesticides licensees to sell through e-commerce platform during the period of licence validity
• The move will facilitate doorstep delivery of pesticides to farmers and the licensee has to comply with all the provisions of the Act
• The online portal or e-commerce platform has to ensure validity of the licence issued to the pesticide seller by the authorities
• E-commerce operators and licensees have to comply with provisions of the Consumer Protection Act