Piyush Goyal lashes out at e-com firms for flaunting laws

New Delhi: Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal flushed stark criticism on major foreign e-commerce firms in India for flaunting the country's laws of commerce and market, Reuters reports. On Saturday, Addressing a virtual event conducted by the Stanford India Policy and Economics Club, the minister accused the firms of arrogance and predatory pricing practices. But he didn't name any in particular throughout his speech.

Goyal said that these firms, with their scale and access to a large pool of low-cost capital, indulge in predatory pricing practices, which ultimately harms "mom-and-pop" stores. He said that out of his many engagements with these firms, he felt their arrogance, particularly the American ones.

He further criticised the firms for "forum shopping" at courts and not complying with the investigation launched by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). He asked why they are not responding to CCI if they don't have anything shady to hide and doing an honest business. E-commerce firms Flipkart and Amazon had appealed against the CCI's order to restart an investigation into their business practices.

Neither Amazon nor Flipkart did not respond to requests for comments.

The commerce minister's statement comes amidst a growing clamour from small traders and retailers in the country who accused the two US-based firms of bypassing the nation's consumer protection laws and competition laws. But both the companies denied the allegations of traders.

The Confederation of All India Traders wrote to prime minister Modi that the e-commerce companies are treating India as a "banana republic" with weak laws. They urged the government to ensure that the proposed e-commerce rules will not be hampered under those firms lobbying.

A new set of e-commerce regulations was unveiled days ago by the union government, which could force Amazon and Flipkart to review their certain business structures.