CAIT takes to the streets to protest alleged FDI violations by Flipkart, Amazon

Traders’ body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) kicked off its nationwide protest against ecommerce companies Flipkart and Amazon with a demonstration in Delhi at Sadar Bazaar. The association said it will hold protests against the platforms in 700 cities for violating laws related to foreign direct investment (FDI) and tax evasion.

CAIT in a statement demanded that the government ask Amazon and Flipkart to immediately shut down their platforms till they are fully compliant with the prevailing FDI policy. The body also said that the business model, accounts and inflow of foreign investments and subsequent disbursals by the companies should be investigated.

The body had earlier filed a writ petition at the Rajasthan High Court against the two ecommerce companies citing the violation of FDI rules. https://www.techcircle.in/2019/10/15/rajasthan-hc-asks-centre-to-respond-to-charges-of-fdi-violation-by-amazon-flipkart As part of the same, the court asked the Enforcement Directorate to complete an ongoing investigation into allegations of FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) violations by the companies.

CAIT had previously asked the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade to seek details into the top five sellers on the platform and their business models.

https://www.techcircle.in/2019/10/21/govt-seeks-details-of-top-5-sellers-from-amazon-flipkart-reports

Apart from this, CAIT also met minister of commerce Piyush Goyal who had assured that no violation of FDI policies by ecommerce portals will be tolerated by the government. https://www.techcircle.in/2019/06/25/won-t-tolerate-violations-of-fdi-norms-govt-warns-e-commerce-firms