Retailers will criticise e-commerce, claiming it is seriously harming employment and business

Buying necessary items at home, sitting at leisure using mobiles is no longer restricted to any specific region. From eating, wearing, to entertainment materials, products, and services of nearly all the sectors are now readily accessible to people with the help of the online platforms. It has also brought a lot of convenience to the people too. But it has ruined the business of the retail marketplace, which employs over 11 crore families in the nation. What then is the outcome of this? Retail stores are shutting down at all locations, and shopping complexes and large stores are not getting anyone to lease them out.

Despite America's tariff war, the so-called experts of the market opine that the internet-based market is all a cleverly thought-out ploy against nations with the type of economy India has. India's foremost problem is to find jobs to the population of 140 crores, but the internet marketplace is stealing away the jobs of the workforce. The central government is giving loans to the people under the Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma Yojana to develop their business, but the online market is snatching away the customers from such people. This is the reason why experts in the economy are demanding a well-planned policy intervention from the central government against the companies of the e-commerce sector.

Retail trade organizations allege that e-commerce companies are in a conspiracy. The online companies make the same item available to the retail customers at a lower price than the price at which the retail trader gets the item. This drives the customer towards the online companies. But when the retail traders lose their footing in this price war and run away from the shop, these same companies charge a heavy price for the same item to the consumers. That is, this trade policy is neither good for the customers nor for the shopkeepers. The traders demand that the government make a policy intervention in this.

Under the leadership of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), the country's traders, retailers, and people associated with employment will gather and convey their demand to the central government. They say that the central government should understand this conspiracy and take appropriate intervention to save the business and employment being destroyed by the online market.

It will include representatives of All India Mobile Retailers Association (AMRA) and All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation (AICPDF). It will also include business leaders, policy experts, economists and related stakeholders who will highlight the serious threats and unethical business activities looming over the traditional business system due to digital commerce platforms.