Secretaries panel on e-tail discusses e-commerce definition, payment issues

Issues related to the definition of e-commerce trade and payment mechanisms figured in the meeting of a group of secretaries here Thursday, sources said.

The panel of secretaries has been constituted by the government to look into all issues related to the e-commerce trade.

An initial draft on national e-commerce policy has suggested the adoption of a common definition of e-commerce for the purpose of the domestic policy.

At present, commerce and industry ministry, consumer affairs, department of IT, WTO, OECD and UNCTAD have separate definitions.

The other issues which figured in the meeting included ways to control sale of counterfeit products through an online platform, and facilitating logistics for the sector, sources said.

An official in the commerce and industry ministry said that group would meet again after one month to discuss some more matters related to the e-commerce sector.

The concerned departments including consumer affairs, economic affairs, logistics, and the RBI would work on their respective areas to promote the growth of the sector.

The meeting was chaired by the secretary in the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) Ramesh Abhishek.

The other members of the group include secretaries of the ministry of electronics and information technology and department of commerce.

Representatives of Niti Aayog, department of economic affairs, MSME ministry, Reserve Bank, Department of Post and consumer affairs participated in the meeting.

The panel will meet regularly to discuss sectoral issues. The group will work as a standing panel on e-commerce.

The meeting assumes significance as a section of the industry has raised concerns regarding the draft e-commerce policy.

The draft had suggested several steps to promote the growth of the fast-growing sector.

It had stated that online retail firms may have to store user data exclusively in India in view of security and privacy concerns.

It had said that any group company of an online retailer or marketplace may not be allowed to directly or indirectly influence the price or sale of products and services on its platform, a move that could completely restrict e-tailers from giving deep discounts.

Besides, it had suggested the introduction of a pre-set timeframe for offering differential pricing or deep discounts by e-commerce players to customers.

Further, the draft recommended permitting 49 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in inventory-based business-to-customer e-commerce model. Currently, FDI in such businesses is prohibited and it is allowed only in the marketplace model.