Competition in e-tail: Fair or unfair?

The e-commerce foreign direct investment policy doesn't sit well with the concept of competition

Little did we know one year ago that the heavens would actually fall upon us and the world would come to a virtual standstill. The novel coronavirus is still spreading like wildfire. When it started, the lockdown was imposed overnight. Embroiled in panic and uncertainty, everyone was queuing up outside stores to stock up the supplies. In such a situation, social distancing norms were hard to comply with. It caused tremendous inconvenience to consumers and increased the risk of virus infection. Local stores were also running out of stock of every essential item. The movie Contagion was the flavour of the day, like living a deja vu. Except one redeeming factor — we live in the times of e-commerce. The possibility of goods being delivered to our doorstep has been a life saver. While the e-commerce took away our existential worries to a great extent, their own have been exacerbated by the proposed e-commerce related foreign direct investment (FDI) policy revision, which will in turn have adverse impact on consumer interest.

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