Cait has urged the Centre to implement the policy with provisions for accountability for counterfeit and sub-standard goods, equal opportunities for MSMEs and small retailers and a dedicated grievance redressal system
The Confederation of All India Traders (Cait) has urged the Centre to immediately roll out a robust and enforceable national ecommerce policy to protect small traders, neighbourhood shops and the livelihoods of employees dependent on India’s retail trade ecosystem.
Cait has urged the government to urgently implement a comprehensive national ecommerce policy with provisions for strict enforcement of FDI rules, ban on predatory pricing, regulation of dark stores, transparency in algorithms and seller rankings and protection against dark patterns. It also said that accountability for counterfeit and sub-standard goods, equal opportunities for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and small retailers, data protection and a dedicated grievance redressal system for traders and consumers should form the foundation of the policy.
Letter To Goyal
In a communication sent to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Cait Secretary General and MP Praveen Khandelwal said that a report clearly reflects the massive future expansion of India’s digital commerce market, but also underlines the urgent need for policy safeguards to ensure fair competition and balanced growth. He referred to the Deloitte and Google joint report.
According to the report, India’s ecommerce market has expanded to nearly USD 90 billion between 2019 and 2025 and is projected to touch USD 250 billion by 2030. It further stated that by 2030, 22 crore new Gen Z shoppers will join online commerce, Gen Z consumers will account for 45 per cent of total online spending, 15 crore new shoppers will come online, and the per capita ecommerce spending is expected to double, as per the letter.
Khandelwal said these numbers show the tremendous scale and opportunity in India’s digital market. However, if left unregulated, the same growth can seriously damage the country’s traditional retail structure. Cait National President BC Bhartia alleged that major ecommerce companies are continuously violating the spirit of India’s FDI policy through indirect inventory ownership, preferred seller arrangements, private labels and manipulative business structures.
He further stated that practices such as predatory pricing, deep discounting through cash burning, dark stores, dark patterns, preferential listings and supply of sub-standard goods have become common. These methods are not only anti-competitive but are gradually eliminating millions of honest traders who have built India’s domestic market through trust and service.
