BHARATEMARKET Portal Of CAIT TO Be Operational In October
Bengaluru, NFAPost: The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) which is an apex body of trading community of the Country and known for its pro-India approach in domestic trade of India has called upon Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal to roll out Ecommerce policy of the government at an early date to put curbs on mal-practices of large e-commerce players in India.
While appreciating the call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for vocal on local and Atmnirbhar Bharat, the CAIT said that Indian ecommerce ecosystem has been greatly vitiated by large e-commerce companies and in the wake of steep rise of ecommerce share in the Indian domestic trade, it is all the more necessary to have a robust and well defined ecommerce policy so that small businesses of India should not suffer at the hands of large e-commerce companies having deep pockets and enormous resources.
In line of aligning physical trade with ecommerce, the CAIT is all set to launch its ecommerce portal Bharatemarket in October. With e-commerce policy, the CAIT has demanded formation of a Regulatory Authority for regulating and monitoring ecommerce business and having adequate powers to penalise offenders of e-commerce policy.
FDI Policy
The CAIT has also said that no relaxation in FDI policy for e-commerce is required rather the FDI norms for e-commerce should be strictly implemented. The CAIT expressed praise for Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal for strongly spelling out the policy of the Government regarding ecommerce & FDI in retail trade on various forums in the past which gives a hope that ecommerce policy will create an even level playing field in India.
CAIT National President B C Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal while terming ecommerce as future promising business said that given the increase in online business during the COVID lockdown and afterwards, it is all the more necessary to have an ecommerce policy with defined parameters and guidelines as to how the e-commerce business will operate in India.
They said that the ecommerce business which was about 6% in pre-covid period has grown to 24% now which speaks to the adoptability of online purchases among the consumers.It is also to be noted that 42% internet users in urban areas are now making their purchases through ecommerce. However, the physical shops in India will continue to play their important role in Indian economy provided that it should be given a well-crafted support policy.
Smartphone penetration
CAIT National President B C Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said that the ecommerce market in India is expected to grow to $200 billion by 2026 from $45 billion as on today. Increase in internet and smartphone penetration is the root cause for the rise. There are about 687 million digital users in the Country out of which about 74% are active in e-commerce business.
By next year the total internet user base is expected to grow upto 830 million. The internet economy in India is expected to rise from currently $150 billion to 250 billion by 2021. The internet revenue currently from $50 billion is expected to grow by $120 billion by 2021.
“Internet penetration in India grew from just 4 per cent in 2007 to 52.08 per cent in 2019, registering a CAGR of 24 per cent between 2007 and 2019. With 5G technology expected to roll out soon, this number will increase phenomenally, leading to another technological revolution in India enabling a large number of people to adopt and accept digital commerce,” said CAIT National President B C Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal.
CAIT office bearers said consumers hoped for various initiatives the government like Digital India, Make in India, Start-up India, Skill India and Innovation Fund will support growth of ecommerce in India. Some of the major initiatives taken by the Government to promote ecommerce in India.
Digital payment
“Technology-enabled innovations like digital payments, hyper-local logistics, analytics-driven customer engagement and digital advertisements will also support e-commerce activities in India,” said CAIT National President B C Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal.
CAIT National President B C Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said that having such a large scope of ecommerce in India in absence of any policy will greatly distort the domestic retail trade comprising more than 7 crore of small businesses and therefore a well guided and framed ecommerce policy is much needed.
However, the CAIT has also been working actively on the launch of its e-commerce portal “Bharatemarket” very soon which will be a portal by the traders, of the traders and for the traders & consumers of India having a much different modal benefitting the existing physical retail system in the Country including the consumers.
