Parliamentary Panel Report on Promotion and Regulation of E-commerce in India
Recently the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce has submitted a report titled ‘Promotion and Regulation of E-commerce in India’.
Key findings of report-
- The government has not collected and collated and maintained the most critical data related to e-commerce.
- The draft e-pharmacy rules have not been finalized.
- The compulsion of GST registration has put undue burden on small sellers doing business through e-commerce platforms.
- The present policy of foreign direct investment is limited to dealing with anti-competitive activities in the e-marketplace.
- Equal treatment of personal and non-personal data within the same framework is not conducive.
Key recommendations
- Compulsory registration of all e-commerce companies should be done.
- Steps should be taken to identify the entities acting as Gatekeeper Platform. Also, a threshold must be set in order to qualify as a gatekeeper.
- Stricter regulations should be made for the e-pharmacy sector.
- Foreign direct investment policy should not differentiate between foreign and Indian marketplace platforms.
- A Digital Markets Division should be set up within the Competition Commission of India (CCI). This will help bridge the existing gaps in enforcement of regulations in digital markets.
- Clear guidelines should be framed regarding the use and sharing of data generated on e-commerce platforms.
- E-commerce marketplaces should play a proactive role in addressing issues related to distribution of substandard counterfeit products and services on their platforms.
- The Goods and Services Tax (GST) composition scheme should be extended to online sellers subject to a turnover limit of Rs 1.5 crore.
Source – The Hindu
