PM Narendra Modi-led government told companies like Amazon and Flipkart that e-commerce rules in foreign countries are comparatively stricter than in India and that they should look at other jurisdictions before raising issues over the norms in the country.

The remarks were made during a virtual meeting with industry leaders like Amazon, Walmart-owned Flipkart, and over 12 other domestic and foreign companies, Money Control reported.

The meeting was called upon by Invest India, the government’s investment promotion and facilitation agency. All the major industry bodies vis-a-vis FICCI, CII & Nasscom were present at the meet, which was was presided over by the additional secretary of consumer affairs Nidhi Khare, on Saturday evening, while remarks were made by joint secretary Anupam Mishra.

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The meeting took place as several e-commerce companies demanded an extension of the July 6 deadline to submit their response on the proposed Consumer Protection (E-com) rules.

Sources told Money Control that Amazon has said that the proposed rules issued on Jun 21 were confusing and had some inconsistencies. 

The rules cover both foreign and domestic companies presently operational in the country. The new draft suggests that the government is trying to ensure that end-users don’t get a raw deal compared to online products.

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The draft rules propose to ban specific flash sales or back-to-back sales “which limit customer choice, increase prices and prevents a level playing field are not allowed”. The rules also prevent e-commerce sites from “manipulating search results or search indexes.”

Indian conglomerate Tata Group, which was also present in Saturday’s meeting, said some of the rules could have huge ramifications on its operations and may restrict the sale of its private-label products, Money Control reported.