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The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) that is strongly opposed to FDI in retail trade and e-commerce, has urged the Odisha government to come out with enabling guidelines in the interest of the trading community.
“As far as FDI is concerned, we do not want it in any retail format be it offline or online. State governments need to come out with their own guidelines to counter any such move. The Odisha government also needs to frame its own guidelines to counter onslaught of e-retailers and protect interest of small traders. Odisha is largely a consuming state but it does not get any revenue from goods that flow to the state through e-commerce transactions”, said Praveen Khandelwal, national secretary general, CAIT.
The state government can frame specific guidelines on e-retail that would make it mandatory for online sellers to furnish their details of their businesses, he suggested.
CAIT is planning to organise a national meeting in Puri (Odisha) on August 13-14 to discuss on the sensitive issue.
Responding to CAIT's conercens, the state industries deparment has asked the directorate of industries to furnish comments on the suggestions made by CAIT.
CAIT said if FDI is allowed in retail or e-commerce, it will convert the country's retail market into a versatile dumping yard and products from all over the world will be dumped into the country much to the disadvantage of trade and SMEs (small & medium enterprises) sector.
“Currently, under the umbrella of e-commerce businesses in India, the e-retailers are selling products much below the actual price of the manufacturer. This is possible only because of funding received from overseas. This is nothing but e-commerce dumping. This practice creates huge distortions. The government must put an end to this by issuing suitable guidelines and follow its anti-dumping policies which are already practiced in other sectors”, Khandelwal said in a letter to chief minister Naveen Patnaik.
“The global and other big players engaged in e-commerce business in India are working with a mandate to control and dominate the retail trade and convert it into a monopolistic market. The FDI component is creating an uneven playing field to the disadvantage of millions of small business enterprises”, he alleged. He also accused the e-retailers of engaging in predatory pricing policy and subsidising prices with a view to oust brick and mortar shops from retail trade.
"Though 100% FDI is allowed in the B2B business model, it is well known that e-retailers are engaged in B2C business by circumventing prescribed rules and regulations. This is evident from the fact that big advertisements have been inserted addressing consumers directly", the letter stated.
