Retailers miffed at ecommerce firms, talk to Arun Jaitley

NEW DELHI: Brick-and-mortar retailers have approached the government, seeking a level playing field vis-a-vis ecommerce companies and accusing them of offering huge discounts. Led by Future Group CEO Kishore Biyani, offline retailers met finance minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday to press their case and alleged that online retailers had violated the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy.

The FDI policy does not allow ecommerce companies to directly or indirectly influence the selling price of goods and services offered on their platforms.

Online retailers including Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal have kicked off a massive advertising war this festive season, highlighting mega sales and offering huge discounts on a range of products available on their platforms.

“We discussed the issue...There should be a level playing field for retailers and ecommerce players and there should be uniformity in policy,” Biyani said when asked if the matter was raised with the finance minister. A committee headed by NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant is reviewing ecommerce rules and will present its report to the prime minster.

The government had issued norms earlier this year for ecommerce companies to ensure a level playing field with offline retailers. Portals such as Amazon and Flipkart are required to be true marketplaces that facilitate transactions between buyers and sellers.

Discounts are to be offered only by sellers. No single vendor or group company can account for more than 25% of the total sales on an ecommerce portal.

Ecommerce companies assured the government at a meeting in August that they are not flouting pricing rules or foreign investment guidelines.

The online platforms said they have not influenced the pricing of products directly or indirectly and that all discounts advertised were offered by the sellers.