Government's 100-day agenda may focus on long-awaited e-commerce policy

High on the government's 100-day agenda could be tackling the long-awaited e-commerce policy. According to reports, this policy aims to resolve several sticking points, including additional taxes for e-commerce companies, data privacy concerns, how products are ranked in search results, and the sale of private-label brands by these platforms.

“In the ecommerce policy, a lot of things are already threshed out at the officials’ level. With political will, it could be included in the 100-day agenda of the government,” Moneycontrol quoted a senior government official who did not wish to be named.

India's e-commerce policy has been in limbo since 2016.

The main hurdle? Striking a balance between small businesses and large online marketplaces. Small businesses, known as MSMEs, are pushing for stricter regulations. This includes limits on how e-commerce companies can operate, such as restricting their ability to sell private-label products and controlling how they share customer data. Online marketplaces are also lobbying for a more relaxed approach, opposing any measures that might hinder their growth.

“The ecommerce policy, which could be a part of the government’s 100-day agenda, is likely to clarify if any additional taxation on ecommerce players is required if a particular product is purchased beyond a threshold. Also, the sellers have raised the issue of not getting information on details of customers, while the e-commerce platform has complete ownership of it. These issues are likely to be a part of the ecommerce policy,” the official was quoted. The policy will also be deciding on taxes charged on online purchases that cross a certain price tag.