No proposal for separate regulatory framework for e-com: Govt

The government today said that at present there is no proposal under consideration for a separate regulatory framework for the e-commerce sector.
"Presently, there is no proposal under consideration of the government for a separate regulatory frame work for e-commerce," Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
Flipkart's Big Billion Day sale on October 6 last year had raised concerns among small and big traders and after that few companies have come under scanner of CCI and Enforcement Directorate.
Among others, traders body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) had demanded the Commerce and Industry Ministry take steps to monitor and regulate online businesses.

The minister also said that a case was registered against e-commerce companies at the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in October last year on the allegations of anti-competitive conduct.
"A case has been filed on 20.10.2014 at CCI alleging an anti-competitive conduct of online retailers and e-commerce/portal companies," Sinha said.

Further, the minister said that e-commerce companies are subjected to monitoring and scrutiny with reference to any service tax liability.
"E-commerce companies are liable for paying income tax like any other company engaged in trading. The cases picked up for scrutiny by the income tax department during a particular year may also include e-commerce companies if these fall within the ambit of scrutiny selection criteria for that year," he added.

Replying to a separate question on taxation on online trading, he said that no indirect tax - customs duty, central excise duty and service tax - is levied on online trading.
"Since trading of goods is included in the negative list of services under section 66D of the Finance Act 1994, trading of goods online does not attract levy of service tax," he said.