Modi govt wants to punish Amazon, Flipkart for deep discount sales

A Rs 2,199 watch offered for Rs 247. an air purifier value Rs thirty-two,995 for Rs twenty-three,999. Branded shoes at 60-80 % off, and an electrical converter value Rs nine,995 at Rs four,499. The Diwali sales offered by e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart draw thousands of breathless customers trying to get sweet deals on a full vary of necessities moreover as indulgences. The same deals have currently brought the businesses below the government’s scanner over alleged “predatory pricing”, a debatable business applies wherever a player offers huge discounts to mitigate competition. Last week, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal assured action against Amazon and Flipkart if the 2 corporations area unit found guilty of the apply. the 2 corporations have reportedly notched up sales of over $3 billion in their joyous sales this month.

According to reports, the govt has sent elaborated questionnaires to each e-commerce platforms, that area unit in hand by Americans. “E-commerce corporations haven’t any right to supply discounts or adopt predatory costs. marketing product cheaper and ensuing the retail sector to incur losses isn’t allowed,” Goyal was quoted as speech. While the govt awaits their response, ThePrint explains the laws the websites might have flouted with the discounts.

What is predatory pricing?

While Amazon could be a US-based company, Flipkart, based by Indians, is majority-owned by yank large Walmart. Both follow the marketplace model of e-commerce, which implies they connect sellers and consumers rather than marketing their wares. this is often the sole variety of e-commerce wherever foreign investment is allowed in India. Under FDI rules that kicked during this Feb, they’re conjointly barred from placing contracts with personal corporations for exclusive sales of sure things, for instance, the OnePlus-Amazon partnership, and giving discounts. Even so, Flipkart and Amazon, aside from alternative e-commerce portals, have usually been suspecting of indulgence in predatory valuation because of the deep discounts they provide.

Before the new FDI rules took a result, these platforms were suspect of shopping for products in bulk from makers at serious discounts, then marketing them at lower prices to entities wherever that they had a stake. These entities would then reportedly sell these products on the e-commerce platforms at lower prices. Costs were allegedly brought down any by waiving the delivery fee and via cashback, usually on their payment portals like Amazon Pay. Since such practices area unit seen as unfriendly to the functioning of brick-and-mortar stores, the new FDI tips barred e-commerce entities from “directly or indirectly” influencing the value of products and services. It conjointly tasked the businesses with making certain a “level-playing field”. to stress this, it explicit that cashback or alternative services like fast delivery ought to apply to any or all vendors on these platforms. The policy needed e-commerce platforms to line up their business structures to make sure compliance. A draft analysis by PwC, in fact, expected that the revised policy may cause a $46 billion fall in on-line sales by 2022.

However, specialists think that price-influencing could be a competition issue instead of Associate in Nursing FDI issue.

“FDI is that the wrong place to manage marketplace or anti-competitive behaviour,” Nikhil Narendran, a partner at India-based house Trilegal was quoted as speech. “Deep discounts by itself aren’t dangerous as long as they’re not harmful to the patron. A free market, competition, and innovation profit the patron.”

What concerning the Competition Commission of India?

Before the new FDI policy took a result, the Competition Commission of India(CCI) — the watchdog for anti-competitive practices in India — had guiltless e-commerce platforms of indulgence in anti-competitive practices. For instance, in Ashish Ahuja v Snapdeal.com, the CCI noted that the e-commerce market “thrives on special discounts and deals”.

It had then dominated that whereas Section four of the Competition Act 2002 will require a predatory valuation, the discounts offered wouldn’t be unlawful since Snapdeal wasn’t a “dominant player” within the relevant market. A market player is alleged to fancy a dominant position once it will perform freelance of its competitors, customers et al., to require unilateral choices. However, with the growing concern over predatory valuation, the CCI is progressing to issue a “soft policy advisory” for the e-commerce trade. The commission has conjointly initiated a study on e-commerce to collect data and insights from market participants in product and services for varied sectors like mobile phones, grocery, food, electronic/electrical appliances, style, and hotels.

CCI chair Ashok Kumar Gupta told The Economic Times last month that deep discounts build a business “unviable” because it reduces the worth of products and services within the eyes of the patron. Following written complaints by the brick-and-mortar retailers lobby, the Confederation of All Asian country Traders (CAIT), the CCI conjointly told Goyal that it’ll keep an in-depth watch on these deep discounts.

Draft e-commerce policy

The Department for Promotion of trade and Internal Trade conjointly free a draft e-commerce policy in Feb, however, this targeted on putting in place a legal and technological framework for restrictions on cross-border knowledge flow.

The policy did propose prohibiting e-commerce marketplaces from adopting business ways that favour one or a few sellers/traders, and an additional comprehensive version is anticipated in 2020. However, the govt has processed that there’ll be no changes within the FDI rules within the sector. In August this year, the Ministry of client Affairs, Food & Public Distribution free ‘E-Commerce tips for client Protection 2019’ to guard the rights of on-line customers. These tips build it the e-commerce platform’s responsibility to keep up a “level enjoying field” and to make sure that it doesn’t “influence the value of the products or services” Meanwhile, the U.S. has reportedly voiced its considerations over the new FDI rules for e-commerce and pushed for the regulation to become a bilateral issue.