Days after it was reported that e-commerce giants Flipkart and Amazon have violated local competition laws by allegedly giving preference to select sellers on their shopping websites, mobile retailers in the country have urged the government to ban popular Chinese smartphone brands like iQoo, Poco, and OnePlus from doing business in the country.
All India Mobile Retailers Association (AMIRA), an apex body representing the country’s over 1.5 million mobile retailers, has alleged that these companies engage in unfair business practices that harm local businesses and reduce government revenue, as per a report by news agency PTI.
Meanwhile, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has urged the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to immediately suspend operations of e-commerce companies Flipkart and Amazon as they are engaging in predatory pricing.
Why retailers are seeking suspension of Chinese brands and e-commerce platforms
The retailers argue that these brands prioritise online sales through exclusive deals with e-commerce giants, limiting their availability in physical stores. This practice, they claim, creates a grey market of mobile phones that not only hurts local retailers but also leads to potential tax losses for the government.
“They (Flipkart and Amazon) deeply indulge in predatory pricing, deep discounting, loss funding, etc. Whatever investment they are bringing that is being used to burn cash, to fund losses they accrue during their operations in India,” BJP MP and CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal, said.
“It looks that there is a cartel between e-commerce players, the brands, and the banks. They are hand-in-gloves to capture the market by various means but mainline retailers will not allow this to happen. We are not against e-commerce but we want a level-playing field and fair means of doing business,” Khandelwal added.
Meanwhile, AIMRA founder and chairman Kailash Lakhyani said operations of Chinese brands such as OnePlus, Poco, and iQOO should be suspended for at least 1-2 years as they are engaging in trading activities without any value addition to the Indian economy.
Lakhyani said that the association highlighted these issues in a letter dated September 27 to Khandelwal.
“We request your intervention to escalate this issue to the Hon’ble Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal, and Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, calling for the cancellation of licences for such companies. It is crucial to protect local businesses and uphold fair trading practices in our country,” he said in the letter, as per Moneycontrol.
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