Draft ecomm policy: DPIIT to hold stakeholder consultation on Friday

NEW DELHI: The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) will hold a stakeholder consultation on the draft ecommerce policy with industry associations and online service aggregators on Friday, amid demands from industry that the deadline to submit comments on the policy be extended from March 9.

The consultation would be in regards to the comments and inputs that the department has sought for the proposed policy.

Besides industry and traders’ associations, the department has reached out to Olacabs, Pepperfry, UrbanClap, Snapdeal and MakeMyTrip, among others.


The department had on February 23 floated the draft ecommerce policy in which it had proposed regulating cross border data flows, locating computing facilities within the country to ensure job creation and setting up a dedicated ‘data authority’ for issues related to sharing of community data. It has asserted that the data generated in the country is a national asset, and citizens and the government have a sovereign right over it.

The 41-page draft ecommerce policy focuses on six core issues- data; infrastructure development; e-commerce marketplaces; regulatory issues; stimulating domestic digital economy; and export promotion.