Traders’ body says agitational approach needed if MNCs are not reined in

Several traders’ bodies including the BUVM and the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) have raised their concerns over the way major foreign e-commerce companies have been conducting their business.

The Bharatiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal (BUVM) national chief Ravi Kant Garg on Tuesday said that small traders may have to adopt an agitational approach to save Indian trade from large multinational companies (MNCs).

Traders' bodies have accused Amazon. Flipkart of involving in malpractices to hurt small traders. (Mint/Abhijit Bhatlekar)

The newly-elected traders’ body chief said that online business is adversely affecting India’s trade and is stopping small traders from growth. “If the online business of multinational and foreign companies which is adversely affecting Indian trade is allowed to grow, then an agitational approach would be adopted,” Garg said, according to a report by news agency PTI.

He also asked traders to begin agitating if nothing is done to regulate the multinational companies. “Bharatiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal (BUVM) would play a vital role in making India self-reliant,’ Garg further added.

Several traders’ bodies including the BUVM and the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) have raised their concerns over the way major foreign e-commerce companies have been conducting their business. The CAIT on Friday expressed hope that the Karnataka high court dismissal of plea by e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart on the investigation ordered by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) against the alleged malpractices will help small traders.

The Karnataka high court dismissed the plea by e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart which sought to put hold to the investigation launched by the CCI into four alleged anti-competitive practices. These alleged malpractices include exclusive launches of mobile phones by these e-commerce firms, promotion of preferred sellers on their websites, deep discounting of items and prioritising some seller listings over others, according to a news report by Reuters.

Several trade bodies say that Amazon helped a small number of sellers prosper on its platform in India. Following the order, the CAIT said that over the last 1o years these foreign ecommerce companies have been ‘destroying small businesses’. “These foreign e-commerce entities are habituated to make tall claims about helping and assisting small and medium retailers while ruthlessly destroying the very fabric of our traditional Kirana and small merchants,” CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal said on Friday.