RSS OFFSHOOT FOR STRICTER E-COM RULES

An RSS offshoot has written to the commerce ministry to ensure that the changes made to the foreign direct investment policy for e-commerce companies are followed up with more stringent regulations.

After new rules barring e-commerce companies from selling products from firms in which they have an equity interest were notified by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion came into effect on February 1, the Swadeshi Jagran Manch has asked the ministry to ensure compulsory local presence in the form of an office for such entities.

In a letter to Suresh Prabhu, minister of commerce and industry, the SJM has pointed out that measures to regulate e-commerce can save local enterprises.

“There are many prominent offshore entities operating portals in India, about which nobody knows the details of actual promoters of these entities. Consumers are facing challenges in the absence of regulation on these e-commerce apps/websites,” the letter said. Among the other demands are that cash incentives should not be offered by companies affiliated with the marketplace entities to buyers, and that a committee be instituted to study the impact of the e-commerce sector on growth of MSMEs.