Regulatory Authority to Settle Disputes Related to E-commerce

• The policy will also address the use of data generated by the retailers and its storage on servers in India
• The government plans to implement the policy within this financial year.

According to a report by Bloomberg, a top government official has informed that India is mulling the feasibility of setting up a regulatory authority to settle disputes related to e-commerce. Small traders have approached the government with allegations of predatory pricing and deep discounting by Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc.

Examining the need for a regulator

Guruprasad Mohapatra, secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, told Bloomberg News that they are examining the need for a regulator to look into e-commerce issues once the policy is implemented. Also, they plan to implement the policy within this financial year.

He further stated that the policy will also address the use of data generated by the retailers and its storage on servers in India. The new policy is in the works for over a year now and has become a contentious issue in trade talks between the U.S. and India.

He informed that in the past too, online retailers have been on the receiving end when the South Asian nation implemented new rules that prohibited exclusive product offerings and deep discounts on them.

The online retailers said that e-commerce has the potential to create millions of jobs in India and give opportunities to smaller businesses.