CAIT demands immediate action against Amazon, calls it ‘IPC 420 x2 culprit’

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Industry body the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has demanded “immediate action” against Amazon, calling the e-commerce giant an “IPC 420 multiplied by 2” culprit.

In a statement on December 19, CAIT referred to the recent order by the Competition Commission of India (CCI), which imposed an Rs 202 crore penalty on Amazon, adding that the company was “continuously indulging in deliberate attempt to dodge the laws and policies of the government”.

It also accused Amazon of pursuing a “hidden agenda to control and dominate not only the e-commerce trade but also offline retail trade” and looking to “wipe out competition by overtaking prospective competitors”.

“We do have differences with Indian corporates, but we will not allow any foreign entity to wipe out indigenous competition. Once foreign entities comply with the laws and policies both in letter and spirit, the CAIT will take on Indian companies as well,” BC Bhatia (National President, CAIT) and Praveen Khandelwal (Secretary General, CAIT) said in a joint statement.

The statement further indicated that “demand for action as per law” could be a major election issue for traders in poll bound states of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

Bhatia and Khandelwal also noted the media’s constructive role on issues of national importance and said a similar approach is expected towards “ramifications on India’s wide retail and e-commerce trade” and takeover of an Indian company by a foreign one “to wipe out competition”.

The statement also took issue with Amazon calling CAIT “a stranger” in its reply to the CCI and alleged that “malpractices” by the company has “caused collateral damage to traders”.

“More than 2 lakh shops, mainly of mobile trade, have been closed due to vicious tripartite nexus comprising Amazon, brand-owning companies and various banks including government banks. To protect further devastation of small businesses, the CAIT has an unequivocal right to intervene,” it said.

It also alleged that since the CCI order, Amazon has submitted “false statements, made deliberate misrepresentations and wilfully suppressed relevant material documents” and alleged that all this would show that “FRL becomes a strategic asset for Amazon to expand and enhance its ultra-fast delivery services and thereby can kill the businesses of small businesses in India”.

The joint statement demands that the central government take “immediate action” by suspending business operations of Amazon’s e-commerce portal. It alleged that Amazon’s actions violate FDI and FEMA policy, and the Enforcement Directorate should also take action.

“If still no action is taken, it will be presumed that some sort of influence is haunting the government and foreign funded companies are allowed to do whatever they like even at the cost of distortions and devastations of India's own trade and traders,” the statement read.

Further, they also sought audience with Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and BJP President JP Nadda.