Goyal meet e-commerce firms, CAIT to discuss online retail issues

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Piyush Goyal on Wednesday held a detailed discussion with representatives of e-commerce firms and domestic traders body CAIT on issues related to the sector, including the proposed policy, an official said. Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal, who attended the meeting, said that it was indicated in that the national e-commerce policy would be released by the government in the coming months. He also said that all the stakeholders agreed to implement and follow the policy in letter and spirit.

«A unanimity is arrived between all stakeholders about basic pillars of e-commerce policy and rules,» Khandelwal said. He also asked to constitute a regulatory authority to monitor and regulate e-commerce trade in India. He added that representatives from different companies, including Amazon, Flipkart, Tata CLiQ, Reliance Retail, Zomato, Swiggy and Meesho, participated in the deliberations.

Senior officials from the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and the consumer affairs ministry were present at the meeting. The meeting assumes significance as the government is in the process of framing a national e-commerce policy and consumer protection rules for the sector. In June, Secretary in DPIIT Rajesh Kumar Singh said that broadly the intention is to make the policy work along with the consumer protection rules and not in conflict with each other.