The draft covers a lot of issues pertaining to the e-commerce sector ranging from foreign direct investment to data protection.
The government is planning to release the second draft of the e-commerce policy in the next 10 days, according to a senior government official.
The first round of discussion basis the draft happened on August 3. The draft covers a lot of issues pertaining to the e-commerce sector ranging from foreign direct investment to data protection.
“We are trying to incorporate all the inputs and put the next draft in the public in the next 7-10 days,” said Sudhanshu Pandey, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry at the round table organised by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).
This is the outcome of multiple rounds of conversations the government has had with the industry representatives since April.
A separate wing in the Enforcement Directorate to look at the existing violations in the e-commerce sector has also been proposed in the first draft.
However, some of the proposals such as allowing 49 percent foreign direct investment in inventory based e-commerce businesses haven’t gone down well with traders associations.
CAIT says if the e-commerce companies were allowed to keep inventory, it will distort the basic fundamentals of the policy.
The government has not given any timeline for the final policy to be announced. However, while addressing reporters earlier this month, Commerce Secretary designate Anup Wadhawan said the government was working with the “tightest timeline”.
