The draft policy is at the stage of inter-ministerial consultations and is yet to be finalised.

In its report on the promotion and regulation of e-commerce in India, the parliamentary standing committee on commerce observed that the absence of such a policy has resulted in a ‘strategy vacuum’ for the sector and ‘ineffective regulation’.

An Indian parliamentary panel report recently urged the government to finalise the draft National E-Commerce Policy at the earliest.
Further delay in formulating and notifying the policy may further accentuate the prevailing issues in the domestic digital market.
The current regulatory framework has gaps in its enforcement mechanisms, it noted.

As the current regulatory framework is restricted to prevention and identification of sellers that violate rules regarding intellectual property rights (IPR), there exist gaps in enforcement mechanisms related to provision for imposing ex-post penalty on sellers that violate rules, it said.

It recommended the department for promotion of industry and internal trade to “develop appropriate mechanisms for enforcement of rules related to IPR in e-commerce space in consultation with the relevant ministries/departments”, a news agency reported.

Necessary provisions should be incorporated in the amendment bill to empower and enable the Competition Commission of India as well as the digital and markets and data unit to effectively regulate the fast paced digital market, it suggested.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)