CAIT stage strong protests against Amazon in 300 cities
   Date :16-Jan-2020

CAIT stage strong protest
 
 
Business Bureau :
 
Strongly opposing India’s visit of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, more than 5 lakh traders join hands in strong protests in about 300 cities across country on Wednesday on the call of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT). ‘Jeff Bezos Go Back,’ ‘Amazon Go Back’ slogans greeted Jeff Bezos in these protests against unethical business module of Amazon. About 5,000 trade associations participated all over the country.. CAIT lashed out big corporates for taking side and support to Amazon.
 
Now, CAIT will turn its guns also towards brand companies and banks who have formed an unholy and vicious nexus with Amazon, However, CAIT has publicly advised Jeff Bezos to put his house in order and compliant towards every provision of FDI policy both in letter and spirit if he really wants to continue business operations in India and also not to engage in building false and wrong narrative for helping small traders of India. While commenting on declaration of Jeff Bezos on Wednesday announcing investment of one billion dollar in India, Bhartia and Khandelwal said that it’s not an investment but promotional finance to Amazon India to crush retail trade and encouraging his team in India to do more predatory pricing and deep discounting and go on in violating FDI policy.
 
Regarding his announcement of 10 billion dollar of exports, Bhartia said it’s ridiculous. Jeff Bezos want to build a false and wrong narrative to show that Amazon is pro small traders. “What Amazon has done to empower 5 lakh retailers already registered on their portal. The answer will be big no. Does any such retailer exists in top 20 sellers of Amazon in past 5 years. The answer will be no. Then on what basis Jeff Bezos is claiming to do exports from India,” Bhartia said. “He also talked about helping in digitalisation but the question is who has asked his help.
 
The traders are quite capable in India to digitalise themselves under our PM Narendra Modi flagship programme of Digital India,” he said. While appreciating the immediate steps taken by Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal when the matter was brought to his knowledge by the CAIT and in view of his repeated public statements that predatory pricing and deep discounting will not be allowed, CAIT has demanded Goyal for early roll out of e-commerce policy and a regulatory authority to regulate and monitor e-commerce market of India, he said.
 
He further said that current model of Amazon and Flipkart involving predatory pricing and deep discounting has created distortionary effects by driving out the traders from the market and therefore the Competition Commission of India (CCI) stands correct in ordering an investigation against Amazon and Flipkart In series of protest, a large protest was held at Janntar Mantar at New Delhi where hundreds of posters were carrying black flags and raised slogans like ‘Amazon Ki Jager Nahin- Ye Hindustan Hamara Hai,’ ‘Amazon Follow FDI Policy or leave India’ strongly condemn unethical and monopolistic business practices of Amazon in direction of controlling and dominating not only e commerce but retail trade market of India.
 
Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said, “After the CCI ordered an inquiry into business model of Amazon and Flipkart our fight is now a fight for the survival of crores of traders of the country. The economy of this country has been run by the traders since independence and we will keep running it in future too. If any foreign company dreams of occupying the country’s e-commerce or retail business through its unethical methods, then it should come out of confusion.” “If any company wants to do business in India, it has to follow the FDI policy and laws of the land in letter and spirit otherwise they have to leave India and find business in any other corner of the world,” he added.