Dear Friends :
Since you are connected with E Commerce , you might like my
following blog
With regards,
Hemen Parekh / Mumbai
From: Hemen Parekh
[mailto:hcp@recruitguru.com]
Sent: Friday, August 3, 2018 10:43 AM
To: Cabinet Ministers; assocham@nic.in; ficci@ficci.com; info@cii.com; BJP National Executive
Cc: ssbhalla@gmail.com; bibek.debroy@gov.in; ashima@igidr.ac.in; rr1@nipfp.org.in; ratanp.watal@gov.in; ceo-niti@nic.in; Indian Think Tanks; Gurudatt Kundapurkar; Haridas Shenoy; Pradeep Talpade; amit.doshi@dbcorp.in; amitabh.kant@nic.in; admin@narendramodi.in; BJP-Dept-Heads; Indrajit Sethi; vch-niti@gov.in; Shereen Bhan
Subject: KEEP IT SIMPLE : GET OUT OF ITS WAY !
Sent: Friday, August 3, 2018 10:43 AM
To: Cabinet Ministers; assocham@nic.in; ficci@ficci.com; info@cii.com; BJP National Executive
Cc: ssbhalla@gmail.com; bibek.debroy@gov.in; ashima@igidr.ac.in; rr1@nipfp.org.in; ratanp.watal@gov.in; ceo-niti@nic.in; Indian Think Tanks; Gurudatt Kundapurkar; Haridas Shenoy; Pradeep Talpade; amit.doshi@dbcorp.in; amitabh.kant@nic.in; admin@narendramodi.in; BJP-Dept-Heads; Indrajit Sethi; vch-niti@gov.in; Shereen Bhan
Subject: KEEP IT SIMPLE : GET OUT OF ITS WAY !
The E Commerce Elephant
There
is an old story about 7 blind men trying to figure out the shape of an elephant
by touching different parts of the body of an elephant and based on that ,
trying to imagine what the full elephant might look like
Something
similar is happening over the past few days since draft of E Commerce Policy
got released
With
one difference
All
the wise men ( and there are more than 7 ),are saying :
“
E Com Policy should NOT look like this “
Following
are some of their comments :
“
Single Regulator / single Law “ , is a stupid idea . It will slow down
decision-making
(2)
Differential voting rights for Start Ups may discourage FDI
(3)
Digital Economy is not something STATIC . It is continuously EVOLVING
(4)
Should there be separate laws for contract enforcement ? One for normal
commerce
and another for E Commerce ?
(5)
It is not government’s job to micro-manage the prices
(6)
Why should Import Duty differ for goods imported via ELECTRONIC vs
NORMAL
methods
?
(7)
Why should an officer certify eligibility , instead of leaving it to the
players which model
to follow ? [ Inventory-led or
Marketplace ]
(8)
Why should Government get into the business of launching E Commerce Platform ?
(9)
The policy is creating an Uneven Playing Field , between Foreign Companies and
Domestic Companies
(10)
Why should only Domestic Companies have the option of holding inventories ?
[ provided goods sold are entirely domestically produced ]
(11)
How can government keep changing “ Regulatory Goal Posts “ ?
(12)
This smells of re-introduction of License Raj !
(13)
Is it government’s job to decide WHO shall offer WHAT promotion scheme and
WHEN ?
(14)
What is the idea behind saying :
* Group companies of an E Commerce firm cannot take actions that
influence / distort
final
process
* Bulk purchases by “Related party sellers” of branded goods that
lead to “ price
distortions
“ shall be banned
(15)
How can Regulator fix floor-prices and prohibit deep discounts below a
threshold
when technological advances [ eg : 3D Printing – Use of Robots – AI etc ] are
continuously lowering manufacturing costs ?
What is rationale behind fixing a specific sunset date after which “ deep
discounts “
must stop ? Large E Commerce firms in
India are mostly owned by the American /
Japanese / Chinese companies . If they are bringing in and pouring
dollars / yen /
yuan , to offer deep discounts to Indian consumers , why should you bother
?
Why
should the consumers be deprived of continuous lowering of manufacturing
costs ?
(16)
Discounts are offered by the Vendors and not the E Com Platform. How will you
control them ?
(17)
What is idea behind allowing 49 % FDI in only those Online Companies which sell
Indian goods ?
This recommendation goes against earlier Press Note # 3, which must not be
diluted
(18)
Data generated by E Commerce Firms :
Where is the need for a separate framework exclusively for E Com firms when
that
subject is fully covered by the SriKrishna Committee ( Data Protection Law )
who has
recommended a Data Protection Authority ( DPA ) ?
(19)
Govt should view retail from a multi-channel lens and laws that apply to one
channel
should apply to other retail formats as well – whether OFFLINE or ONLINE
(
Retailers Association of India - RAI )
(20)
Kumar Rajagopalan [ CEO – RAI ] says :
“ There are many issues and ambiguity with the policy, including the DEFINITION
of
E COMMERCE .
There is no clarity on who is an e commerce player now . Almost every retailer
in the
country uses technology and supports online buying and delivery
Can everyone be called e-commerce then ?
The new draft suggestion seems to be dividing retail by channels, which are
creating
confusion even from an FDI angle “
What
is heartening is that the Government has invited all stake-holders to send in
their suggestions re changes / modifications that they would like to be
incorporated
Over
the past 3 YEARS , I have sent my own views to the Policy Makers
through following emails . Once again , I urge all the stake-holders to
consider these :
Defining E –
Commerce
[
14 July 2015 ]
If You cannot lick them ; Join
them
[
24 July 2015 ]
WHO WILL OBSOLETE WHOM
?
[
20 Aug 2015 ]
E
- Commerce is Easy Commerce
!
[ 15 Nov 2015 ]
Not an easy task to define
what is E Commerce ( and what is not ), considering all the possible permutations /
combinations ( running into LAKHS of them ! ) , of the following elements :
# NATURE
* A physical " Product " ( Capital Goods / FMCG / Consumables /
Perishables )
* A virtual " Service " ( Medical advice /
Legal advice / Consultancy / Software etc )
# GEOGRAPHIC
SPREAD
* Across National boundaries ( International
Trade )
* Across State boundaries
( within India )
* Across Municipal boundaries (within a State )
# SUPPLY-
CHAIN / INTERMEDIARIES
* Mfr > Distributor > Dealer
> Retailer > Buyer
* Mfr > Buyer
*
Any disintermediation in the above chain
# ORDER
PLACEMENT / ACCEPTANCE
* In a physical location ( Shop / Store / Office / Factory / Home )
* In a virtual location (Web site/Mobile App/SMS/ Email
/ Phone / Video Conference )
# DELIVERY
* Physically in a Shop / Store etc where Buyer collects / picks-up
from shelf
* Delivered to Buyer's location, thru Delivery Boy
* Delivered to Buyer's location, using a Drone
* Delivered to Buyer on his home-based 3D Printing Machine
( using internet )
# PAYMENT
* Cash against delivery
* Pre-paid / Post-paid Cheque
* Credit / Debit Cards across counter
* Credit / Debit Cards thru online Payment Gateways
* Through Mobile Wallets
* Electronic Bank Transfer
* Using Virtual Currency like Bit-Coins
* Barter of Goods or Services
# FOREIGN
INVESTMENTS
* FDI in Manufacturing / Supply Chain / Payment Gateways -
Apps- Mobile Wallets
*
FDI in Web sites like Amazon - Flipkart - Alibaba - Snapdeal etc ( What
percentage ? )
Can you think of any other
" Elements " that I have forgotten ?
In any case , given the fact
that there can be lakhs ( if not millions ) of permutations / combinations of
the above-mentioned elements , one must not attempt to define what is E
Commerce ( and what is not ) , by inclusion or exclusion of these
elements in definition
Such a complex definition
would lead to thousands of court cases involving Governments and each court interpreting the definition ,
differently !
The ONLY DEFINITION that would satisfy ALL of these
permutations/combinations , is :
-----------------------------------------------------
Any exchange of " Value " between any number of parties ,
involving ,
# Goods
or Services , on the part of one party
with,
# Money
or its equivalent consideration , on the part of a second party
with or without using,
# Intermediary
services , on the parts of any other parties
Lessons from History ? [
07 Jan 2016 ]
One Day , Everything will Sell Online ! [
29 Mar 2016 ]
Missing the Woods for the Tree ? [
12 Aug 2016 ]
The best
that the Committee can recommend is adoption of the following :
-------------------------------------------------
Parekh's , " 3 Laws of E-Commerce
Economy "
- to be
incorporated as 123rd Constitutional Amendment
( with
apologies to Isaac Asimov's 3 Laws of Robotics ! ) :
-----------------------------------------------
LAW
# 1 :
Asimov :
A
robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to
come to harm.
Parekh :
Rules /
Regulations of E-Commerce shall not come in the way of unfettered creation of SELF EMPLOYMENT
Any
existing Law / Rule / Regulation that hinders a person to become Self Employed,
shall be treated as ultravires
Further ,
any Law / Regulation of " E-Commerce / FDI
" which slows down Investment ( Foreign or Local / Official or through
channeling of BLACK MONEY ), shall be treated as " bad in law " and
struck down
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
LAW # 2
Asimov
:
A
robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders
would conflict with the First Law.
Parekh :
Laws /
Regulations governing " E-Commerce / FDI
" shall be subservient to Laws / Regulations governing ,
" Commerce / Investment " .
Whenever
any Public Authority / Court finds conflict between the two , laws /
regulations governing " Commerce / Investments " , shall prevail
under all circumstances , and in favor of the self employed
------------------------------------------------------
LAW # 3
Asimov :
A
robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not
conflict with the First or Second Laws.
Parekh :
Laws / Regulations of " E-Commerce / FDI
" which get over-ruled under LAW # 2 , shall immediately " Self
Destruct " in favor of unobstructed progress of TECHNOLOGIAL ADVANCES
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