The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Monday accuses e-commerce platforms Amazon and Flipkart of selling non-essential items despite many state administrations prohibiting their sale amid lockdown-like restrictinos.
The trader’s body has long been at odds with Amazon, which it frequently accuses of violating India’s foreign direct investment (FDI) norms or of anti-competitive behaviour. In February, CAIT called for Amazon to be banned altogether over alleged FDI violations.
"Amazon and Flipkart are making illegitimate financial gains by supplying non-essential items which have been strictly prohibited by many state administrations due to ongoing lockdowns to prevent the spread of COVID-19," the traders' body stated in its letter to commerce and industries minister Piyush Goyal.
CAIT accused foreign e-commerce companies of trying to "capture the market share from small traders by defining every item as essential including mobile phones and accessories” even as small traders would be “put behind bars” if they tried to sell non-essential items.
Saying that since these firms are “larger than life corporations”, CAIT accuses the government of “closing its eyes towards all violations”. It adds that e-commerce industry made over $8.3 billion of sales in 2020 compared to $5 billion in 2019 according to RedSeer Consulting, saying it would be an “understatement” to say foreign e-commerce entities in India have been taking advantage of the pandemic.
On April 20, both Amazon and Flipkart announced that they were suspending the delivery of anon-essential items in Delhi, which had imposed lockdown from last week lasting up to April 26. Given the progressing COVID-19 situation in the capital, CAIT has asked for the lockdown to be extended further—even as it says traders lost around Rs 5 lakh crore due to the second wave, with Rs 25,000 crore lost in Delhi alone.
CAIT had in January launched its own e-commerce platform for Indian small and medium traders, bharatemarket.