Taking its discontent over the Walmart-Flipkart deal a step ahead, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), has now threatened a nationwide agitation if the deal goes through.
CAIT, which has been strongly opposing the deal since even before it was announced put out a statement ‘cautioning’ the Government to now allow the deal and that traders across the country will otherwise be compelled to launch a nationwide agitation against the deal and other e commerce companies for their ‘manipulative character’.
"Since last five years we are knocking the doors of the Government for bringing reforms in e-commerce but all has gone to deaf ears which encouraged Walmart to buy Flipkart and enter into retail trade indirectly,” CAIT said in a statement.
According to them, the basic fundamentals of the deal are based on circumvention of the law with an underlying object to exploit, manipulate and control the retail sector including e-commerce. They claim that the deal will increase malpractices in the industry.
CAIT, along with other online seller associations has been strongly opposing the deal claiming that it will create an uneven level playing field and hurt domestic sellers. They have been urging the government to first form an ecommerce policy and put in place a regulatory authority to monitor and regulate the ecommerce sector.
CAIT also moved CCI to file its objections regarding the deal. And not just CAIT, Swadeshi Jagran Manch also wrote to the Prime Minister slamming the Walmart-Flipkart deal, after which the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) referred the complaint to Reserve Bank of India, Enforcement Directorate and Competition Commission of India.
CAIT also demanded investigations into the business models of other prominent e-commerce companies, claiming that they are indulging in predatory pricing, deep discounts and loss funding strategy and selling most of the inventory through their own off-shoot companies.