CAIT wants govt to launch e-commerce marketplace in partnership with trade associations

New Delhi: Traders’ body CAIT Thursday urged the government to launch an e-commerce marketplace portal in partnership with trade associations where small traders, artisans and women entrepreneurs can sell their products in a ‘fair and transparent manner’. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said it has also sent a letter to Union Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu Thursday alleging “that the e-commerce business in India is highly vitiated and has been gripped by a few big online companies who are indulging into predatory pricing, deep discounting and loss funding” against the FDI guidelines of the government. [caption id=“attachment_2949974” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The commerce and industry ministry notifies FDI policies through press notes. Press Note 3, which was released in 2016, enlists guidelines for foreign direct investment in e-commerce sector. “The government in association with trade associations should launch an e-commerce marketplace portal where small traders, artisans, women entrepreneur and others can sell their products in a fair & transparent manner,” CAIT said to Prabhu. In the letter to Prabhu, the traders’ body also demanded early announcement of an e-commerce policy and formation of a Regulatory Authority to monitor the e-commerce business in India.