CAIT to launch a nation-wide movement against Amazon and Flipkart

Union Minister Piyush Goyal had last month said the government was looking into alleged predatory pricing by Walmart-owned Flipkart and Amazon.

Business Standard : Traders' body CAIT on Sunday said it will launch a nation-wide movement to protest against e-commerce majors Amazon and Flipkart, alleging that they are flouting FDI policy norms and destroying the country's retail business.

In a statement, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said, "Both Amazon and Flipkart still continue to sell goods on their portal at predatory pricing, deep discounting, controlling inventory, promoting preferential sellers and influencing prices."

Union Minister Piyush Goyal had last month said the government was looking into alleged predatory pricing by Walmart-owned Flipkart and Amazon.

CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal criticised the attitude of Amazon and Flipkart and said the traders' body is all set to launch a national movement on this issue soon.

The traders' body has also convened a meeting of its National Governing Council in New Delhi on November 10.

Khandelwal informed about the different phases of the movement and said that on November 13, CAIT delegations will submit a memorandum to all MPs of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha across the country. On November 20, dharna will be organised in about 200 cities in all the states of the country.

On November 25, traders' march will be organised in 500 districts of the country and a memorandum will be handed over to district collectors.

On November 28, protest marches will be organised in more than one thousand towns and cities of the country against the unethical business practices of these companies.

On December 2, Traders' rally will be held in all the state capitals in which thousands of traders from across the state will participate and on the same day, the CAIT delegation will submit a memorandum to the chief ministers of all states.

Khandelwal also said that on this issue, a rally of prominent business leaders from all over the country will be held in Delhi around December 10, which will include thousands of traders from all over the country, while in January CAIT will hold a three-day National Traders Convention in the national capital, to be attended by over 10,000 merchants across the country.

Apple to start online sales in India soon with local sourcing rules eased

The new investment rules could provide a boost to Apple, allowing it to grow sales in the country and possibly help it reduce its dependency on China by building an alternative supply chain in India.

Business Standard : Apple Inc is poised to start online sales of its devices in India within months, a person familiar with the matter said, benefiting from new rules making the world’s fastest-growing smartphone market more attractive to foreign brands.

On Wednesday, India eased rules that forced companies such as Apple to source 30% of their production locally -- a requirement the iPhone maker has been lobbying against for years -- to include exports as part of the requirement.

That rule posed a problem for electronics brands because most of its devices and components are manufactured in China. The government also allowed so-called single brand retailers to set up online stores before physical shops.

With escalating trade tensions damaging ties between the US and China, New Delhi’s latest investment rules could provide a boost to Apple, allowing it to grow sales in the country and possibly help it reduce its high dependency on China by building out an alternative supply chain in India.

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The Cupertino, Calif-based device and services company will begin selling its iPhone, iPads and Apple Mac computers online in the coming months. It’s also firming up the Mumbai location of its first company-owned brick & mortar store in India -- likely to open next year -- the person said, asking not to be identified as the details are confidential. Selling online will be a big step forward for Apple in a country where counterfeit products abound in online platforms increasing buyers’ distrust.

Apple didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comments.

Some of the phone maker’s older devices are assembled by Taiwanese contractor Wistron Corp. in a factory in Bangalore, while the world’s largest contract manufacturer, Foxconn Technology Group, tests assembly of Apple’s latest iPhone X in a factory near Chennai.