CAIT complaints being examined by Competition Commission of India

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash said the government has also received representations from the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) against e-commerce companies.

New Delhi: Complaints received from domestic traders body CAIT, alleging biased practice adopted by banks in providing discounts for purchases made through e-commerce firms like Amazon and Flipkart, are being examined by CCI, Parliament was informed on Friday.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash said the government has also received representations from the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) against e-commerce companies.

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He said those representations were forwarded to the Enforcement Directorate, which has taken up the matter for investigation. “Complaints received from CAIT, alleging biased practice adopted by banks in providing cash backs and discounts for purchases made through e-commerce websites, such as Amazon and Flipkart, are being examined by Competition Commission of India (CCI) as well,” he added.

To a query whether ED or RBI has initiated a probe into the alleged violation of Foreign Direct Investment policy and FEMA in the deal between Flipkart and Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail, the minister answered in the negative. In a separate reply, he said a report on Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy (the Notorious Markets List) was released by US Trade Representative on January 14 this year, which aims towards addressing concerns of American companies and consumers.

“The Government of India, is under no obligation to take action on such reports and maintains that India has a strong legal and judicial system, to counter such threats of counterfeiting and piracy,” he added. He said several initiatives have been taken up for strengthening enforcement against counterfeiting and for creating strong legal deterrence.

“To counter online piracy, CIPAM (Cell for Intellectual Property Promotion and Management ) collaborated with National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) and Maharashtra Cyber and Digital Crime Unit, to suspend over 380 infringing websites on the basis of incomplete KYC,” he said.