In a communication sent to the Central Government on Wednesday, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has emphasized that a monitoring committee needs to be constituted to regulate and check the festival sales that are held by e-commerce companies in the country.
At the final quarter of every year (between September and December), e-commerce companies hold festival sales that are enjoyed and fully utilized by customers here. While at a time India’s economy was labelled badly hurt, a data from The Economic Times reported that “top marketplaces Amazon and Flipkart recorded sales of Rs 5,600-6,000 crore combined during their Prime Day and Big Savings Days events in August”.
This year’s festival season is so close across the country. CAIT urged Union Minister Piyush Goyal in the communication to issue mandatory guideline for e-commerce companies that hold online festival sales this year.
The traders’ body mentioned that E-Com firms offer discounts and prices at such a low level that other firms cannot compete and are forced to leave the market. It even said that some of the players in the E-Com space are violating the FDI policies.
“In order to restrain such e-commerce companies from adopting malpractices and as a matter of fair play and equal level playing field, CAIT has urged Goyal to constitute a monitoring authority to monitor such festival sales and issue proper guidelines for organizing any such sale, including implementation of the ‘Country of Origin’ policy as declared by the government so that consumers are not deceived,” CAIT said in a statement.
CAIT mentioned that the business of many offline traders in the country are affected by the lockdown caused by the pandemic. A considerable number of small traders are on the verge of downing their shutters as their unable to withstand the crisis. Fairplay is what CAIT is urging in its communication.
Online shoppers said that when they tried to purchase a mobile phone at a regular shop/showroom, they had to pay around Rs.800 to Rs.1000 extra. “When I went to get a mobile for my sister, who required it to begin her college as her classes are held virtual, I paid nearly Rs.1000 extra. If I had opted for online purchase, I would have been asked to wait for 2 days for the product to be delivered but I could have saved that Rs.1000”, said a customer we spoke with.
Another person said that he could not find the mobile he wanted at offline stores. “My friend desired to buy a specific brand’s smartphone but it was not available with any nearby mobile-sellers. When we asked the reason, they said that certain smartphones are only available online. I fear buying gadgets online, because I may not know if its handled roughly while packing. I usually visit offline-shops, so that I could straightaway go to the seller if any thing goes wrong with the product I got”.