The Confederation of All India Traders on Monday demanded the withdrawal of service tax on traders and threatened to go on a nationwide agitation if the demand was not met.
For months, offline retailers and traders have been lobbying hard for a national retail policy to protect their business from the growing influx of e-commerce.
'Traders have stocked up for upcoming festivals and will make a loss if stores remain shut now. We suffered last year. We can't suffer again. There is no scientific basis for closing all commercial establishments. How long will the government keep them shut?'
However, in recent times, the clout that trader bodies such as CAIT and other organisations like Swadeshi Jagran Manch and Laghu Udyog Bharati has is steadily increasing. Earlier this year, trader bodies were able to convince the government not to extend the deadline for implementation of the new norms in FDI policy on e-commerce.
The CAIT has complained to the Commerce Ministry to take action against these companies.
Last November, a lawyer for Future Retail Limited (FRL) told Delhi high court that Amazon is interfering with its lawful business and thousands may lose their jobs and FRL may go bankrupt. Senior advocate Harish Salve, who appeared for FRL, likened Amazon to East India Company. Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, who represented Amazon, told the Future counsel to keep the "East India Company" rhetoric aside, as Amazon has invested $6.5 billion all over India and created 900,000 jobs. This drama played out in the case in which Amazon has challenged Future's $3.4-billion deal with Reliance, alleging the retailer's deal breached an agreement with the American e-commerce firm.
Traders are 'chowkidar' (watchman) of Indian economy, CAIT secretary general said.
The development comes amid a growing clamour for the boycott of Chinese products in India, combined with the government's push for Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
'There is a clear business impact. People are avoiding crowded places and gatherings across cities. This is hitting business, both at traditional and modern trade outlets, during the Holi season, which kicked off from Saturday,' says Praveen Khandelwal, general secretary, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).
According to CAIT, e-commerce policy should take within its ambit not only foreign players but also domestic ones.
The probe is being conducted under various sections of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) after the central probe agency recently received a communication from the commerce ministry seeking "necessary action" against e-commerce players like Amazon and Flipkart pertaining to certain multi-brand retail businesses and an observation made by the Delhi High Court in relation to Amazon.
The banned apps include Baidu, Baidu Express Edition, Tencent Watchlist, FaceU, WeChat Reading and Tencent Weiyun, besides PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite, according to an official statement.
In two months, as many as 25 complaints have been sent to Enforcement Directorate, Competition Commission of India, Reserve Bank of India and income tax department, beside various state agencies, to thwart the deal.
Ever since the deal was announced of Walmart spending over $16 bn for a 77 per cent stake in Flipkart, the road to the takeover of India's biggest online marketplace has been quite bumpy
Amid domestic traders continuously complaining alleged violations of FDI norms by foreign online players, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said the ministry will "very shortly" come out with certain clarifications on the e-commerce sector. Goyal said the ministry is not changing any policy on e-commerce for foreign direct investment as the policy is crystal clear. "We will also come out with the e-commerce policy and whatever clarifications... Certain instances have come to our notice where the policy is not being followed in letter and spirit, we will obviously be clarifying that very shortly," he told reporters in New Delhi.
Swadeshi Jagran will be leading the delegation on a multi-city tour, expected to start on September 21. The week-long trip will include meetings with industry bodies and government agencies.
From the rollback of customs duty on key electronic components to fast tracking delivery of goods imported from China, players are looking for incentives on several counts.
Union Minister of Commerce and Textiles Piyush Goyal has stirred up a hornet's nest by taking on India Inc, specifically the Tata group, which is among the companies that lobbied against the Modi government's pro-consumer draft e-commerce policies. While Goyal's comments, made at a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) event, were streamed live on YouTube, the industry lobbying body later edited the video and subsequently withdrew the entire speech. Goyal had said the Tata group and other Indian companies often lobbied for their interest, while ignoring national interest.
Smaller Singapore- and US-based venture capital funds, retail associations and trader bodies such as the CAIT and SJM are all planning to approach the government to put pressure on the commerce ministry.
Singapore-based e-commerce platform Shopee - that launched in India only in December 2021 - has decided to close operations in the country. The official reason given by Shopee, which is controlled by NYSE-listed Sea Ltd, is changing global sentiments. In a statement, it said, "In view of the global market uncertainties, we have decided to close risks of our early-stage Shopee India initiative." The e-commerce platform has been hit by growing opposition from trade associations led by Praveen Khandelwal as well as homegrown social commerce start-ups.
First Goa, now Gujarat!
The case may drag for a few years, experts say, as CAIT and DVM have said they will appeal against the interim relief granted to Amazon.
Not displaying the mandatory information, including country of origin, on products sold on their platforms in India, draws government's attention.
E-commerce major Amazon on Wednesday said it will acquire Prione Business Services - its joint venture firm with Catamaran, subject to requisite regulatory approvals. Prione Business Services was formed in 2014 and was coming up for renewal on May 19, 2022. In August this year, Amazon and NR Narayana Murthy's Catamaran announced that they will not continue their JV beyond May 2022. The two parties had not disclosed the reason behind the decision.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) will hear e-commerce major Amazon's interim plea on February 14, seeking a stay over the order passed by fair trade regulator CCI that had suspended the over two-year-old approval for its deal with Future Coupons Pvt Ltd (FCPL). A three-member bench on Monday directed to list Amazon's plea on February 14 to pass an interim order and stay the operations of the order passed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in December last year till it finally decides the matter. "The registry is directed to list on February 14 for hearing," said the NCLAT bench. The appellate tribunal also directed to list the appeals filed by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) and All India Consumer Product Distributors Federation on the same date.
"Reaching an international agreement on how large digital companies are taxed has been a priority for the chancellor since he took office," said a spokesperson for his UK treasury office. "The chancellor's consistent position has been that it matters where tax is paid, and any agreement must ensure digital businesses pay tax in the UK that reflects their economic activities. That is what our taxpayers would expect and is the right thing," the spokesperson said.
The Confederation of All India Traders, the apex body of trade federations and small-scale sector players in the country, upped their campaign on Saturday against the United Progressive Alliance government's proposal to bring in foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail by another notch. The CAIT announced a nationwide campaign, 'Retail FDI bhagao, apne vatan ko bachao' (Chase out FDI in retail, save our nation) in the national capital on Saturday.
The government may drop its plan to decriminalise cheque bounce offences after there were requests to continue the existing system, which can potentially make people honour their financial commitments due to fear of prosecution. It would seek directions from a Supreme Court panel formed to expedite the pendency of cheque bounce cases before taking a final call. Last year the Department of Financial Services (DFS) had proposed decriminalising minor offences, which included cheque bouncing, for improving business sentiment and unclogging court processes.
This is the third consecutive month when GST mop-up remained below the Rs 1 lakh crore mark, despite the festival season.
The FDI notification on multi-brand retail by the government will be valid only if amendments made by the Reserve Bank in the FEMA rules are approved by Parliament, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has said.
A section of traders and hawkers today staged protests in various parts of the country against the government's decision on FDI policy in multi-brand retail, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said.
The smartphone category as a whole was expected to spend around Rs 1,000 crore on marketing and promotional activities over the next six months, even as India unlocks gradually, said media industry experts. This spending is expected to come down, as firms temper their launches.
'When you oppose a policy, you are labelled anti-government.' 'The problem is, the policymakers have never done any business in their lives.'
The founding members of The E-Commerce Council of India include Snapdeal, ShopClues, UrbanClap, Shop101, Flyrobe and Fynd, among others.
Amid the protests against leading e-commerce firms, Flipkart and Amazon, shipments through the online route in fact witnessed a double-digit growth every quarter.
Partial lockdown measures may impact movement of labour & goods, they say.
As Amazon India, Flipkart are forced to shut down 60 categories and push out 45 mn products, a new lobby group comprising sellers is in the making to take up e-com concerns.
In its new avatar as the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), it will directly be responsible for 'the welfare of traders and their employees'.
Going ahead with its festive sales as per schedule, companies such as Flipkart, Jabong, and Myntra are having week-long Valentines' Day sales, offering discounts of as much as 80 per cent. Amazon India is also offering discounts of almost 40 per cent.
The ban in India would hit Chinese internet companies that were making headway in the world's fastest-growing mobile market.
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