Traders in the mood for intense agitation against e-commerce companies
Raipur. National Vice Chairman Amar Parwani, Chairman Magelal Malu, State President Jitendra Doshi, Executive President Vikram Singhdev, Parmanand Jain, Vashu Makhija, General Secretary Surinder Singh, Executive General Secretary Bharat Jain, and Treasurer Ajay Aggarwal of the country’s largest trade organization Confederation of All India Traders (CAT), which represents more than 9 crore small traders across the country, has announced a decisive three-day national conference in New Delhi and Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh from 16 to 18 May 2025. More than 100 top business leaders from different states of the country will participate in this conference. Its objective is to strategize and activate a nationwide movement against the alleged unethical and illegal practices of foreign invested Amazon, Flipkart, Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, Zepto and other major e-commerce and quick commerce companies. Misuse of FDI:- CAT alleges that these companies have used foreign direct investment (FDI) to compensate for losses and to offer deep discounts through select sellers rather than for infrastructure development, which is a violation of FDI norms. Regulatory violations:- These platforms are entering into exclusive agreements in violation of the Competition Act, 2002, manipulating pricing, and hiding critical information from consumers, thereby limiting market competition and consumer choices.
Setting up dark stores:- Operating multiple “dark stores” for delivery across the country is a direct violation of FDI policies, which prohibit e-commerce entities from maintaining inventory and setting up retail outlets.
CAT’s Viewpoint
National Vice Chairman Amar Parwani, and State President Jitendra Doshi said, “These commerce platforms are no less than the East India Company of the modern era. Their aim is to establish dominance over the market by eliminating small grocery and retail stores, thereby endangering the livelihood of more than 3 crore grocery stores in India.”
Parwani and Doshi said that CAIT has already presented a comprehensive white paper, highlighting these concerns and demanding immediate regulatory intervention. The organization emphasizes that the uncontrolled growth of these foreign-funded companies is a significant threat to India’s small retail ecosystem. He informed that a one-day conference will be held in New Delhi on May 16 and a Chintan Shivir has been organized in Vrindavan on May 17 and 18, where business leaders from across the country will decide the agitational programs against these companies, which will be organized in more than 500 cities of the country. The outline of the movement will be decided in the Chintan Shivir. The conference will conclude with a call for a unified action, demanding these e-commerce and quick commerce companies to either follow Indian laws and fair trade practices or exit the Indian market.
