Talks Between Traders’ Body And Online Retailers Fail

The impasse between traders’ association and e-commerce giants—Amazon and Flipkart—over the issue of deep discounting and predatory pricing continues as a meeting called by the Commerce Ministry failed to reach consensus.

The Confederation of All India Traders in a statement said both online retailers have denied all the charges and maintained that they comply with the country’s foreign direct investment policy in letter and spirit. “On deep discounting, both portals strongly said that they are not offering discounts and it is the brands which offer discounts,” the statement said.

The meeting was called by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade on Friday after the traders’ body met Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal earlier this week, alleging that both the e-commerce firms are flouting foreign direct investment norms. The body had said they have evidence of predatory and deep discounting, controlling inventory and exclusive deals done by the platforms.

The meeting was chaired by DPIIT’s Additional Secretary Shailendra Singh. Flipkart Chief Operating Officer Rajneesh Kumar and Amazon Vice President Gopal Pillai were present in the meeting. The traders’ body was represented by Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general of CAIT.

The traders’ body said it will now write to all the brands to clarify their position on the claims of Amazon and Flipkart. “If need be the CAIT will not hesitate to approach the Competition Commission of India or route of court to make brands clarify their position,” Khandelwal said.

Amazon and Flipkart were not immediately available for comment.