The Government of India is preparing a draft of the new manual for e-commerce retailers in the country. The new rules will have to be followed by Amazon, Flipkart and other online platforms and it has been said that all sellers should be treated the same. The new draft aims to bring even more transparency in the online buying and selling process in India. After the draft rules came into force, there will be no major discounts and offers as before.
So the new rules were introduced
According to a Reuters report, the draft policy states that new rules have been formulated after online retailers received complaints related to giving priority to select sellers on the platform. The report said that physical retailers have been complaining about platforms like Amazon and Flipkart for a long time that they are causing business losses. There have been allegations of wrong practices on online platforms before.
Loss to offline retailers and stores
Previous reports said that Amazon preferred select sellers and these sales were in violation of India’s foreign investment regulations. It was alleged that Amazon offered huge discounts on some products, which caused losses to other retailers. Apart from this, Amazon has also been accused of causing damage to the business of offline stores. Amazon has reiterated the need to work within the ambit of the law.
New rules drafted
“The e-commerce platforms will have to treat all registered vendors and sellers alike and stop using algorithms that prioritize select vendors and sellers,” the draft revealed. Platforms like Amazon and Flipkart will have to change their system according to the new rules. However, it is not yet clear when this draft will be finalized and when it will be in force.
Discounts will not be available as before
The implementation of the new rules means that e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart will not see sales and big discounts many times a year as before. The rules envisage balancing the prices of discounts and products found in the online and offline markets, so as not to harm offline retailers and stores. Changes can be seen in the prices of online products after the new rules are implemented.
