The Information Technology Association of Odisha (ITAO), representing the software and hardware traders in the state, has banned the purchases of IT related products from the national distributors in protest against the online shopping sites which are allegedly selling goods cheaper than the landing cost of the products.
"The members of the association have banned the purchase of products from the national distributors of IT products demanding maintainance of sanctity in pricing of the products sold through online sites. The ban, started from November 17, will continue until a consensus is reached on this issue," said Arun Kumar Dey, president, ITAO.
ITAO demanded regulations for providing level playing field for both the online and brick and motor players. It may be noted that Federation of All India IT Association has decided not to make further purchases, sales and services of IT products from November 24.
"The state government has been losing revenues to the tune of Rs 10 crore monthly by way of value added tax and entry taxes due to the practices adopted by the online players," said Dey. The online sales have led to mushrooming of unorganized players resulting in loss of revenues to the state exchequer, the members said.
More than 1,000 traders are members of the IT association. The unethical practices of selling IT products will have cascading effect on the 30,000 families who are dependent on the IT dealers, rued Dey. The tempting discounts offered by online sites have been a major cause of worry for the offline traders. "The original equipment manufacturers or the vendors are hand in gloves with the online stores. We wanted that a minimum operating price should be ensured by the vendors for selling a particular product on both the platforms," said Manoj Lalani, former president, ITAO. The total IT products market size in the state is pegged at around Rs 1,500 crores and the levy of VAT and entry tax is pegged at around Rs 100 crore.
