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Update: Kejriwal said that since these online companies are selling goods at lower than the cost price, so an investigation into the matter is necessary and the only alternative left to find out what is going on.
He said that ecommerce websites are ” online scam”, which benefitted only a select few. Adding to this, he also said “Investigation is the only alternative left with us. Selling an item which costs Rs 20 for Rs 18 is no business logic.”
But with this he also says “party is not opposed to ecommerce because of its convenience to customers.”
Earlier: (As if the poorly defined ecommerce laws were not enough,) Delhi’s Ex-CM Arvind Kejriwal is now all set to take on the ecommerce players. A supporter of the traditional/offline business model, the Aam Aadmi Party Convener has outrightly claimed online shopping platforms as an online scam.
Kejriwal last year formed a minority government in the Delhi Assembly with support from the Congress but later resigned after running the govt. for a period of 49 days. The EC has announced fresh elections to be held in Delhi( probably in Feb 2015). So, Kejriwal is trying to gather public support for the upcoming Delhi elections and made the statement while addressing a group of traders in the Nehru place complex, which is said to be Asia’s biggest electronics and computer market.
Ecommerce platforms like Flipkart and Amazon have posed serious challenges for the offline markets and online discounted sales organised by these platforms have been questioned and brought them legal trouble for selling items (specially computer peripherals) at insanely cheap prices.
Few online stores are using the loopholes in the regulatory architecture to operate and the Central (BJP) government plans to regulate ecommerce business in the country, especially with a view to protect consumer interest.
And the war between the online and offline markets continues..
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