National policy on retail trade in pipeline: MoS
Published: Jul 17, 2019
By TIOLCORPLAWS News Service
NEW DELHI, JULY 17, 2019: THE MoS for Commerce & Industry, Mr Som Prakash, today in Parliament stated that the National Retail Trade Policy is under formulation. Comprehensive stakeholder consultations in all the States through FICCI, CII, ASSOCHAM, PHDCCI and other trade and commerce associations were conducted to get feedback on the needs and demands of the small traders. A video conference of Minister of Commerce and Industry with representatives of Industry Associations, Export Organizations and Traders Organizations was held on 18.02.2019, attended by more than 10,000 participants from a total of 42 NIC Centers and 29 other locations across the country.
Stakeholder consultations were also held under the Chair of Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade on 25.06.2019 to consider issues facing the retail sector and possible solutions for resolving them.
Regarding e-Commerce, the Department of Commerce established a Think Tank to formulate a “Framework for National Policy on E-commerce” and a Task Force under it which deliberated on the challenges confronting India in the area of digital economy and electronic commerce (e-commerce). The Think Tank was further divided into various sub-groups, comprising representation at the technical level from the Government, industry and experts with domain knowledge.
A draft National e-Commerce policy has been prepared and placed in public domain. Comments from various stakeholders (companies, Industry associations, think tanks, foreign governments) have been received. Meetings have been held under the chairmanship of Minister for Commerce & Industry with industry stakeholders, e-Commerce companies, associations of kirana stores, traders and retailers to discuss matters relating to e-commerce. The last such meeting took place on June 24, 2019.
