Government extends feedback submission deadline for draft ecomm policy

NEW DELHI/BENGALURU: The government on Friday extended the deadline for submission of feedback on the draft ecommerce policy by three weeks to March 31 following demands by some companies for a separate policy on data with easier sharing norms.

At a stakeholder consultation with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), ecommerce companies sought a broad policy that favours both traders and buyers as well as retail trade and banking.

“No one was against data localisation, but they asked for limited sharing of their consumers’ data,” a senior government official said.

Representatives from Amazon, Snapdeal, Microsoft, MakeMyTrip, Reliance Industries Ltd. and eBay attended the meeting, along with trade bodies and industry associations including CII, FICCI and CAIT. Google, Facebook and Walmart did not participate in the deliberations.