AMN / New Delhi
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) organised a Brainstorming conference in to gather views of all the stakeholders on the recently released draft of the E-Commerce Policy here today.
CAIT which has been pushing the government to release the most awaited policy invited the suggestions of all the participants to further send the final proposals to the Department of Internal Trade under Ministry of Commerce before 9th March.
Mr. Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog, the person behind various government initiatives such as of Make In India, Startup India, Incredible India also addressed the all India representative body of traders CAIT. He interacted and discussed various aspects of the e commerce policy with the participants in order to know their views and feedbacks. Speaking at the occasion he said, “The retail trade in India boasts the most promising future and it’s growing by leaps and bounds. However, Indian retail trade, as well as the retailers, must go digital since embracing digital is the only way forward for the trading community of such a diverse and growing country like India. ” He said that retail trade of India is bound to expand in coming years and its imperative upon the traders to adopt technology and digitisation. “As far as E Commerce is concerned it’s a revolution and no one can afford to spare itself from the ground reality. The traders have wide network even on Streets and every area of the Country. No one can beat them. However, in changing scenario, the Govt. will protect traders and on the other hand will also do best to have linkage between big players and small traders to ensure principle of co-existence,” he added.
Voicing the concerns on the e new commerce policy, CAIT National President Mr. B.C. Bhartia and Secretary General Mr. Praveen Khandelwal said, “On the whole we welcome the new E-Commerce Policy but it should also address the concerns of all the stakeholders. Even though the policy looks comprehensive it has not provided solutions to a wide range of issues currently faced by the domestic e-commerce players. Besides the policy should be helpful in providing the opportunity of growth and expansion to the indigenous players in this segment only then the vision of making India a global hub for the manufacturing of goods can be achieved. Further we demand some immediate changes in the policy such as inclusion of all players of digital payments not only BHIM & UPI, A Regulatory Authority should be set up for E Commerce, COD in e Commerce should not be allowed and domestic players should be brought under the ambit of the policy.”
The CAIT reiterated at the occasion that the objections and suggestions received by it today will be submitted to the Ministry Of Commerce with the rational expectation of making the final outcome much improved and comprehensive. In the past also CAIT has actively undertaken various initiatives towards creating favourable business conditions and climate for traders to operate and contribute in Indian economy.