During the 13th day of the Parliament’s Winter Session, e-commerce took center stage as the government addressed a myriad of questions concerning regulation, competition, ONDC, and e-commerce exports.
Responding to a question, the Minister of State (MoS) for Commerce and Industry, Som Parkash, mentioned on Wednesday that the ONDC network is now live in 500 towns and cities across the country.
“The geographic coverage of ONDC is determined both by the capability of its Network participants and the independent business decisions of merchants onboarded by the Network participants,” he added.
Parkash’s comments were part of a written response to a question by Lok Sabha member Ravikumar D on whether ecommerce regulations extended to the state-backed ONDC.
“All existing laws and regulations of India, related to ecommerce apply to ONDC and the Network Participants on [the] ONDC network,” Parkash said.
The government additionally stated that ONDC was implementing ‘comprehensive’ measures to guarantee trust, fairness, and transparency on the network. This includes ensuring fairness in search and discovery, payment mechanisms, KYC requirements, reviews and ratings, and enforcement, among other aspects.
During the session, Parkash highlighted that the government, thus far, has not conducted any studies to address the competition-related issues identified in the 172nd report of the Rajya Sabha on the promotion and regulation of e-commerce in India.
The minister further mentioned that the government had submitted an ‘Action Taken’ report in response to the recommendations put forth by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce regarding the issue.
Coincidentally, at that time, the government had opted not to adopt any recommendations concerning the aspect of competition.
The standing committee proposed alterations to the existing regulatory framework covering e-commerce, the Competition Act of 2002, issues related to the abuse of dominant positions by major players, and guidelines for mergers and acquisitions. Additionally, the committee suggested that the Ministry of Corporate Affairs make ‘concerted efforts’ to expedite the finalization and enactment of the Competition Amendment Bill as soon as possible.
In the action-taken report, the government highlighted that the amendment bill would incorporate the majority of the recommendations made by the standing committee concerning competition and would also fill gaps in the existing regulatory framework.
Regarding whether the government has entered into partnerships with any startup or private entities for ecommerce exports, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel mentioned that initiatives are underway to foster ecommerce exports through collaborations with diverse stakeholders.
“… outreach events are being held in the districts under Districts as Export Hubs initiative with [a] focus on promoting ecommerce exports of the identified goods from the districts in collaboration with various stakeholders,” said Patel in a written response.
Patel stated that the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) is working in conjunction with different ecommerce platforms to boost the export of goods through ecommerce from the country.
“The core objective of this collaboration is to leverage ecommerce platforms operating in other countries to support local exporters, manufacturers, and MSMEs in India in reaching potential international buyers,” the MoS added.