E-commerce players divided over FDI in B2C segment

It should come as no surprise that the domestic e-commerce players do not want to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) and want to protect themselves from global players like Alibaba, Amazon, etc. Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held a meeting with various stakeholders on Thursday regarding FDI in e-commerce. This meeting between the industry bodies, e-commerce players and the government was largely inconclusive. About 60 industry players including e-commerce firms as well as industries attended the meeting. The main issue of this discussion was the degree and the kind of FDI that can be opened up in the business to consumer (B2C) or the retail space. Currently, 100 percent is allowed only in the business to business (B2B) space. The players in domestic space like Flipkart and others want that the government should not open up 100 percent FDI in the B2C space. Similarly, foreign e-tailors like Amazon have been quite open to the B2C segment, so that they can actually sell their own inventory-based materials.Government is looking at this issue in great detail. They are holding several meetings with State Governments to resolve taxation issues. Two months is the timeline within which the government will meet several industry players once again. Meanwhile, industry players are also looking at formulating a separate industry body to look at e-commerce issues. This is over and above or what Nascom is already doing.