Traders’ body says e-tail sites flouting FDI policy

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Monday alleged that e-commerce portals are "openly flouting foreign direct investment (FDI) policy", and said it may move the court if no action is taken by the government against them.

In a statement, CAIT said it expresses "deep anguish and resentment for the lethargic attitude of the government for not taking any action against e-commerce portals for openly flouting FDI policy of the government in spite of making written complaints”.

CAIT also sent a communication to Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Secretary Ramesh Abhishek, saying "if no action is taken by the government, the trade body may opt for approaching a court of law for obtaining justice”. CAIT also said on September 23 it had sent a communication to Suresh Prabhu, minister of commerce, regarding violation of FDI policy by e-commerce portals and the said communication was referred to secretary, DIPP, for appropriate action the same day.

CAIT National President B C Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said, "So far no action has been taken against such e-commerce portals as a result of which some of them are again going to violate the FDI policy, which is evident from the fact that similar big advertisements are visible for different kinds of festival sales.” But, the body has not given detail of any particular e-commerce site. The CAIT demanded immediate action against alleged-policy-defaulter e-commerce companies.