Draft e-commerce rules: Other countries' laws stricter than India, Centre tells Amazon, Flipkart, others

The Centre has told e-commerce giants such as Flipkart, Amazon, and other domestic and foreign companies that they should look at other countries' jurisdictions and how tough their governments are before raising issues concerning the rules in India. 

In a meeting convened by the consumer affairs ministry and the government's investment promotion arm, Invest India, several executives of the e-commerce companies demanded an extension of the July 6 deadline to submit their response on the proposed Consumer Protection (E-com) Rules. 

They also expressed concerns and confusion over the draft rules. Chaired by Nidhi Khare, additional secretary, consumer affairs ministry, the meeting took place on Saturday, July 3. 

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The remarks were made by Anupam Mishra, joint secretary at the ministry, who said that other countries' governments are more demanding regarding the rules under their jurisdictions and that the companies should look at them before raising concerns about the rules in India, Moneycontrol reported.

Amazon.com Inc and India's Tata Group warned government officials that plans for tougher rules for online retailers would have a major impact on their business models.

The government's tough new e-commerce rules, announced on June 21 aimed at strengthening protection for consumers, caused concern among the country's online retailers, notably market leaders Amazon and Walmart Inc's Flipkart. 

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New rules limiting flash sales, barring misleading advertisements and mandating a complaints system, among other proposals, could force the likes of Amazon and Flipkart to review their business structures, and may increase costs for domestic rivals including Reliance Industries' JioMart, BigBasket and Snapdeal.

The government will soon issue certain clarifications on foreign investment rules, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters on July 2.