Govt To Safeguard Small Retailers’ Interests If Quick Commerce Platforms Employ Predatory Pricing: FM

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government will “give a serious thought” to safeguarding the interests of small traders and traders if predatory pricing tactics of quick commerce and ecommerce players impact their businesses. 

“It’s important to take care of small traders and retailers… because this country needs support for small traders… Where because of predatory pricing or deep pockets, their businesses are getting affected, we will have to give a serious thought. The commerce and industry minister remains seized of the matter,” Sitharaman said in response to a question on Monday (September 16) at an event organised by News18. 

With the thinly veiled criticism, Sitharaman has become the second union cabinet minister in the past few weeks to slam ecommerce platforms such as Walmart-backed Flipkart and Amazon India.

Last month, union commerce minister Piyush Goyal said that the massive growth of ecommerce was not a matter of pride but a matter of concern, adding that decline of small traders due to the rise of the sector highlights an imbalance between small and large retailers.

He also said that Amazon India’s plans to invest billions of dollars in India were guided by its strategy to offset its losses. However, he later clarified that the Centre is not against online marketplaces but wants them to operate fairly.

It is pertinent to note that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) last week reportedly found that Flipkart and Amazon India flouted competition laws by prioritising certain sellers and listings. 

It also found that major smartphone makers like Samsung, Xiaomi, and others exclusively rolled out their products in partnership with the two ecommerce platforms in contravention of Indian antitrust laws. 

Owing to this, trade body CAIT’s general secretary emeritus and BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal called on the Centre to ban the two ecommerce platforms from operating in the country. Later, he also urged Goyal to ban the upcoming festive season sales citing detrimental impact on India’s small retailers.

Recently, the All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation (AICPDF) also called on the Centre to ramp up scrutiny of the unchecked growth of quick commerce companies such as Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, Zepto, and Flipkart Minutes.