FDI Violations by Amazon & Flipkart
Since January 2018, various issues of TelecomLive have highlighted how certain e-commerce companies are in violation of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Rules that the government notified in March 2016 through a Press Note No.3 (PN-3/2016). A gist of this is given in box-A for our readers. The two leaders in this business are – Amazon India and Flipkart – and they have committed massive violations. Recently, a Delhi based NGO filed a public interest litigation (PIL) before the Delhi High Court stating that these companies need to be investigated. The NGO pleaded that the provisions of PN-3/2016 need to be implemented strictly, so that the marketplaces do not become de-facto inventory based e-commerce entities.