Foreign firms face risks in India's e-commerce space

Significance

The ruling offers relief to Amazon, which not only faces stiff competition but is also grappling with changes in India’s e-commerce regulatory framework. On June 21, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs proposed revisions to the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020.

Impacts

• Reliance will call for a dilution of consumer protection rules if its efforts to capture market share are impeded.
• User privacy may suffer, despite official claims, if government agencies gain unfettered access to people’s e-commerce transactions.
• Foreign companies will strongly resist government efforts to make their data available to domestic companies.
• The rivalry between Amazon and Reliance is likely to be especially bitter and may trigger further legal battles.
• Beijing will criticise Delhi’s new efforts to curtail Chinese imports to India.