Page 2 - E-commerce Rules

Flipkart bets big on generative AI to improve customer, seller experience

Datar believes that, as the company builds scale, it will be able to improve on the returns on investment (ROI) it is witnessing from its AI bets

Govt, RBI in talks to ease Fema guidelines for boosting e-commerce exports

Efforts on to ease FEMA norms, says DGFT Sarangi

WTO agrees to extend moratorium on e-commerce tariffs for two years

The WTO talks failed to secure deals on other contentious trade issues including a crackdown on agriculture and fisheries subsidies

Alibaba approves additional $25 bn share buyback as revenue disappoints

Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding on Wednesday approved an additional USD 25 billion authorisation to its share buyback programme, after reporting lower-than-expected sales revenue for the last quarter of 2023. The company's Hong Kong-traded shares plunged 6.8 per cent on Thursday. Alibaba's New York-listed stock price sank 5.9 per cent on Wednesday and has fallen nearly 26 per cent over the past year. Alibaba posted a 5 per cent increase in sales to 260.3 billion yuan (USD 36.67 billion) in the quarter that ended in December, slightly missing analysts' estimates. Net income sank to 14.4 billion yuan (USD 2 billion), down 77 per cent compared to a year earlier. The Hangzhou, China-based firm attributed the drastic decrease to declining values of its equity investments and falling revenues. Alibaba has struggled to sustain its growth and faces increasing competition in the e-commerce sector from rivals such as Pinduoduo and ByteDance, which operates TikTok and Douyin. On

EESL launches Beta version of e-commerce platform for affordable solutions

State-owned EESL on Monday announced the launch of the Beta version of its e-commerce platform that will offer affordable energy-efficient appliances and solutions to customers. The platform, eeslmart.in, lists energy-efficient appliances such as LED bulbs, inverter LED lamps and fans, at present. "EESL plans to expand its offerings to include 5-star bulbs and other luminaires, super-efficient ACs, energy-efficient motors, e-bicycles, and induction cookstoves etc," Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) said in a statement. EESL Chief Executive Officer Vishal Kapoor said the objective is to enable the people to make sustainable choices and bridging the information gap on energy-efficient products and services. EESL is a joint venture of public sector undertakings under the Ministry of Power.

Commerce ministry-promoted ONDC operational in over 500 cities, towns

The government-promoted Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is at present operational in over 500 cities and towns across India, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. ONDC is an initiative of the Commerce and Industry Ministry to create a facilitative model to help small retailers take advantage of digital commerce. It is not an application, platform, intermediary or software but a set of specifications designed to foster open, unbundled, and interoperable open networks. "ONDC is currently operational in more than 500 cities and towns across India," Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. All existing laws and regulations of India, related to e-commerce, are applicable to ONDC and the network participants on the ONDC network. Replying to a separate question, he said to safeguard consumers from unfair trade practices in e-commerce, the Department of Consumer Affairs has also notified the Consumer Protection (E-commerce)

BFSI, telecom, e-commerce most coveted sectors by women in 2023: Report

BFSI, Telecom and e-commerce were the most sought after sectors by women jobseekers this year, with most looking for work from home opportunities, according to a report released on Wednesday. The report by revealed that the women seeking jobs showed a balanced approach between flexibility and career dedication, as 50 per cent (1.2 crore) of total job applications from women job seekers sought wfh opportunities, the report by apna.co said. The report is based on an analysis of job searches by women on apna.co platform in 2023. As per the report, this year, sectors like Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI), telecom, and e-commerce witnessed a remarkable surge in demand among women jobseekers. The report revealed that 18 lakh women embraced night shift roles, showcasing their willingness to tackle challenges with utmost dedication. Of the 1.38 crore women on apna's platform, 6.7 million hail from tier-II cities, seeing a 33 per cent growth compared to the previous year.

Wide stakeholder consultations needed to frame national e-comm policy: Govt

E-commerce is an emerging and dynamic sector and wide stakeholder consultations are required for formulation of a national policy on the sector, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha that a draft e-commerce policy was placed in public domain on February 23, 2019 for public consultations. "Suggestions have been received from various stakeholders. Since e-commerce is an emerging and dynamic sector, wide stakeholder consultations are required for formulation of National e-Commerce Policy," he said. The minister added that the government has implemented several legislative and policy measures for streamlining and regulating e-commerce industry in the country. Some of these measures are FDI policy; Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999; Consumer Protection Act, 2019; Competition Act, 2002; and Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. "Provisions of the Competition Act are applicable in res

Start warranty period from date of installation: Govt to white goods firms

In a letter to industry and retail associations and manufacturers of white goods, Rohit Kumar Singh, secretary to the government, has advised them to revise the policy of warranty

Regret Indonesia's decision to ban e-commerce sales on social media: TikTok

Chinese-owned app TikTok on Thursday said it regretted the Indonesian government's decision to ban e-commerce transactions on social media platforms, particularly the impact it would have on the millions of sellers who use TikTok Shop. But TikTok Indonesia said in a statement they will respect the regulations and laws that apply in Indonesia and will take a constructive path forward. We deeply regret the government's announcement, especially how it will impact the livelihoods of the six million sellers and nearly seven million affiliate creators who use TikTok Shop, said the statement sent to The Associated Press on Thursday. Indonesia banned goods transactions on social media platforms such as TikTok in a bid to protect small businesses from e-commerce competition, accusing them of predatory pricing. Indonesia's Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan on Monday announced the decision after a meeting with President Joko Widodo. The ban is to prevent the domination of the algorithm and preven

Final draft of e-commerce policy skips consumer data protection regulations

The earlier draft of the policy which was released in 2019 talked extensively about the ways in which e-commerce companies could collect user data

'No proposition for independent regulator in proposed e-commerce policy'

In that meeting, a broad level of consensus emerged among the concerned stakeholders on the proposed policy

Empowering MSMEs for export success

Through reforms and e-commerce innovation, India must supercharge its MSMEs

Former CEO of China's Alibaba quits cloud business in leadership reshuffle

The former CEO of Alibaba, Daniel Zhang, resigned as head of its cloud computing unit Monday in a surprise move as the Chinese e-commerce empire wraps up a leadership reshuffle. Alibaba said it will invest USD 1 billion in a technology fund Zhang will establish to support the firm's strategies for future growth. Zhang stepped down on the same day he gave up his roles as Alibaba's CEO and chairman. In a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange, Alibaba said that Eddie Wu, its new CEO, will also head its cloud unit. Wu and Alibaba's new chairman Joseph Tsai assumed their new roles by Monday, with Alibaba saying it has completed its leadership transition. Alibaba expressed its deepest appreciation to Zhang for his contributions to the company over the past 16 years. Alibaba's Hong Kong stock price was down 3.6 per cent Monday following the announcement. In an internal letter dated Sunday and viewed by the AP, Tsai wrote that Zhang had expressed his wish to transition away from his rol

Meesho becomes first horizontal e-commerce company to attain profitability

The SoftBank-backed firm saw over 1 billion orders in last 12 months; its order volumes rose by 43% and revenue by 54%

Meesho delists 5.2 million counterfeit, restricted products in six months

SoftBank-backed e-commerce firm Meesho has delisted nearly 42 lakh counterfeit and infringing product listings and 10 lakh restricted products in the past six months, the company said on Wednesday. The total deactivated products account for less than 5 per cent of the total products listed on Meesho's platform, a company official said. Meesho said its "Project Suraksha" systems has detected and blocked over 12,000 bad actor accounts from accessing the platform. "The project has yielded impressive results, with nearly 42 lakh counterfeit and infringing product listings and 10 lakh restricted products deactivated in the past six months. Since February, there has been a 80 per cent reduction in platform views for non-compliant listings, they now represent a mere 0.1 per cent of platform views," Meesho said in a statement. Meesho Founder and Chief Technology Officer Sanjeev Barnwal said the company leveraged advanced techniques in computer vision and natural language understanding to

Report violations of e-cigarette sales ban on portal: Govt to states

The Centre has asked states to report on its portal information on the availability of e-cigarettes on online shopping sites and retail shops despite a ban on it since 2019. The portal www.violation-reporting.in will help the Union Health Ministry collate information and take swift action on reported violations, an official source told PTI. The Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Act (PECA) came into force in 2019. There seems to be a lack of awareness about the portal which was launched in May, an official source said, adding anyone can report violations of the PECA and the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act-2003 on the website. The communication from the Union Health Ministry to the states was issued on the same day the Centre sent notices to 15 websites selling e-cigarettes, directing them to stop advertisement and sale of the banned products. Six more websites are on the

SAIL selects mjPRO platform for project procurements, says mjunction

B2B e-commerce company mjunction on Tuesday said SAIL has selected mjPRO, its e-procurement platform, for all its project procurements. mjPRO is a cloud-based platform that comes with wide configurability and addresses key concerns of organisations such as access to new and credible suppliers, analytics and insights for decision-making, convenience of usage and integration with ERP systems, the company said without divulging commercial details. SAIL has selected mjPRO through an open tender for the implementation of an e-tendering solution for its project buys on a digital platform providing easy access to its global vendors to quote. The project is expected to go live within three months across five integrated steel plants of SAIL with connectivity with the steel major's in-house consultant, the company said. It can accommodate complex terms, multiple currencies and diverse evaluation criteria. It also provides access to registered vendors after due validation with procurement ...

We are in inter-ministerial consultation for e-comm policy: DPIIT secy

An inter-ministerial consultation is going on to frame an e-commerce policy which would help in providing a conducive environment for inclusive and harmonious growth of the sector, a top government official said. Secretary in the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) Rajesh Kumar Singh said that broadly the intention is to make the policy work along with the consumer protection rules and not in conflict with each other. The policy aims to prepare strategies for providing a conducive environment for inclusive and harmonious growth of e-commerce sector through a streamlined regulatory framework for ease of doing business, adoption of modern technologies, integration of supply chains and enhancing exports through this medium. "We are in the process of inter-ministerial consultation (to frame the policy)," Singh told PTI. He said that the consumer protection rules and this policy will be separate, but they will not be in conflict with each other and in fact th

CCPA orders 5 e-tailers, Amazon to delist car seat belt alarm stopper clips

Consumer protection regulator CCPA has directed 5 e-commerce companies, including Amazon and Flipkart, to permanently delist all car seat belt alarm stopper clips as the product stops the alarm beep when not wearing seat belts, thus compromising passengers' safety. After investigating the matter, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) directed Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Shopclues and Meesho to "permanently' delist all car seat belt alarm stopper clips and associated motor vehicle components which compromise the safety of passengers and the public. As a result, 13,118 car seat belt alarm stopper clips have been removed from the five e-commerce platforms. While Amazon has delisted 8,095 such clips , Flipkart has delisted 4,000-5,000, Meesho 21 and Snapdeal and Shopclues one each, the regulator said in a statement. CCPA passed orders against the five e-commerce players for violation of consumer rights and unfair trade practice under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, it ...