Drafting E-commerce Policy
Dec 07, 2018 By Admin
The Department of Industry Policy and Promotion (DIPP) is giving final touches to the draft e-commerce policy, which is expected to be finalized soon. Last week top e-retailers met government officials to discuss various aspects of the proposed e-commerce policy. The key issues discussed included gifts coming in from overseas and issues of the delivery partner.
The department is deliberating payment mechanism, ways to control sale of counterfeit products through online platforms, and facilitating logistics for the sector. DIPP also met with leading courier and logistics companies, which provide services such as warehousing, inventory, packing, shipping and tracking for customized last-mile deliveries.
DIPP’s main focus is to outline measures that would make local data storage mandatory, curb discounting in online retail and allow founders to keep control of their startups even with a minority stake. It proposed allowing foreign investments up to 49% in companies that use the inventory model to sell locally produced goods on online platforms.
The draft focusing on creating a “fair environment for domestic digital firms to find their rightful place,” and “leveling the playing field for foreign players and domestic startups.” It proposed a single legislation to encompass all aspects of e-commerce and a single regulator to govern the industry.
In previous meetings, DIPP discussed issues like Pricing Strategy, Inventory Model, Promoter Control, Tighter Regulations and Data Localization. Data Localization is the major issue of concern for all the stakeholders, which complicates the operation of the companies involved in everything from maps to search to social media, potentially impacting the likes of Apple Inc., Uber Technologies Inc. and others.
The DIPP panel is working meticulously to finalize the draft e-commerce policy, which is expected to be released anytime soon and is expected to regulate the highly unregulated digital economy.
Published by : RAKESH KANWAR & CO.
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