New Delhi: Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal raised concerns about predatory pricing by e-commerce platforms and the likely loss of employment in the traditional retail sector. Acknowledging the role of e-commerce, the minister said that there is a need to ‘think cautiously’ about how that role can be played in a ‘more organised’ way. At the launch of the report Net Impact of E-Commerce on Employment and Consumer Welfare in India, he asked, “Are predatory pricing policies good for the country?”
He said, “When Amazon says they’re going to invest a billion dollars in India, we all celebrate, but we forget the underlying story—that billion dollars is not coming in for any great service or investment to support the Indian economy. They made a billion-dollar loss in their balance sheet that year. They have to cover that loss.”
He added, “And how did that loss occur? They paid ₹1,000 crore to professionals. Unless you’re paying all the top lawyers to block them so that nobody can fight a case against them…If you make a ₹6,000 crore loss in one year, does that not smell of predatory pricing to any of you? What caused that loss? They are involved in all the e-commerce platforms. They are not allowed to do B2C.”
As per the report launched by Pahle India Foundation, e-commerce is a key driver of employment generation and online vendors are employing 54 per cent more people and nearly twice the number of female employees. Piyush Goyal said that there is a need for policies that protect local businesses and ensure fair competition in the e-commerce sector.
