Tuesday, March 21, 2023
  • Login
  • Register
  • Home
  • Culture
    • All
    • Food and Travel
    • Literature
    • Popular Culture
    A view of Varanasi, during the dusk hours.

    Legal Dimension to Altering Places of Worship and ‘Secularism.’

    Book Review- The Khalistan Conspiracy

    Book Review- The Khalistan Conspiracy

    Book Review-The Execution of Bhagat Singh: Legal Heresies of the Raj

    Book Review-The Execution of Bhagat Singh: Legal Heresies of the Raj

    chessboard game

    Censorship: The Trojan Horse Method in Art

    What You Should Not Expect at a Village Wedding

    What You Should Not Expect at a Village Wedding

    A picture of Mother Theresa in Kolkata

    Religious Fetishisation of Love: Hélder Câmara and Mother Teresa

  • Politics
  • Business
  • Identity
  • Events & News
  • Science & Tech
No Result
View All Result
Converciti
  • Home
  • Culture
    • All
    • Food and Travel
    • Literature
    • Popular Culture
    A view of Varanasi, during the dusk hours.

    Legal Dimension to Altering Places of Worship and ‘Secularism.’

    Book Review- The Khalistan Conspiracy

    Book Review- The Khalistan Conspiracy

    Book Review-The Execution of Bhagat Singh: Legal Heresies of the Raj

    Book Review-The Execution of Bhagat Singh: Legal Heresies of the Raj

    chessboard game

    Censorship: The Trojan Horse Method in Art

    What You Should Not Expect at a Village Wedding

    What You Should Not Expect at a Village Wedding

    A picture of Mother Theresa in Kolkata

    Religious Fetishisation of Love: Hélder Câmara and Mother Teresa

  • Politics
  • Business
  • Identity
  • Events & News
  • Science & Tech
No Result
View All Result
Converciti
No Result
View All Result
Home Business Legal Environment

Online Shopping – Infringement of Right of Equal Opportunity to carry on trade

May 8, 2021
Reading Time: 5 mins read
Online shopping and e commerce

Online shopping and e commerce

The Covid-19 pestilence has ushered in an era of digital boom. All our activities ranging from studying in the classroom to meeting with our friends have all become digital. In order to evade the deadly virus, people are now shopping online via apps like Amazon, Flipkart. As a ramification of it, the sales of these giant multinational companies are mushrooming while the sales of poor shopkeepers are nosediving.

The conflict between the online sellers and brick and mortar sellers is not a new issue. The issue has been in the national media over the past four years. Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has accused Amazon and Flipkart of violating the Foreign Direct Investment in order to gain advantages over the brick and mortar sellers.

Everyone has a right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable condition of work and to protection against unemployment

Article 23(1) of Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The article makes it vivid that the existence of the “just and favorable condition of work” is a basic human right.

There are many instances where the fair practice of trade has been violated in India. For example, we can look at the issue of cashback. During the festival season, these e-commerce giants offer bulk discounts in the form of cashback. The same facility is not available at a small store that is selling the same stock as that of these e-commerce companies. These companies are using their power to tie up with the big banks and corporations to lure the customers to their platform thereby creating an unjust business environment. This is a blatant violation of the right of an individual who is facing loss in his business due to this partnership of big companies.

The CAIT  has accused the e-commerce companies of engaging in the practice of deep price discounts. It alleged that by offering goods at a low price, the companies are capturing the retail market in an unethical way. Due to this unethical practice, the brick-and-mortar shopkeepers are struggling even to meet their variable costs. The shopkeepers cannot afford to sell goods at such low prices and are losing their customers. The hard work which these shopkeepers put in to establish themselves is going to the dustbin due to unfair deep discounted practice. Praveen Khandelwal, the secretary-general of the CAIT had once told that “ Trade in the mobile sector has fallen to about 60 percent whereas in other sectors it has registered a decline of 30-40% sales.” Instead of competing with brick-and-mortar stores, the companies are using price as a tool to expand their business.

It is a recognized human right that everyone has a right to earn livelihood to fulfill his basic needs. The shopkeepers are working with this objective. However, the objective of these e-commerce companies seems to be different. In the financial year 2018-2019. Flipkart India suffered a loss of more than three thousand crores. It is clear that a deep-discounting policy is not a just and favorable business practice to be followed. The deep-discounting policy is violating the human right to carry on trade freely.

In the year, 2019, the CAIT had launched a protest movement against the unethical trade practice of Amazon and Flipkart. The traders protested at roads and sought to have a meeting with the Trade and Commerce Minister, Piyush Goyal and the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi They protested for more than two months but they did not meet the traders. On the other hand, when Jeff Bezos came to India in January 2020, the ministers met him in spite of protest from the traders. In order to assuage some people who became critical of Amazon, he promised to invest one billion dollars in India.  Article 21 of UNDHR states – “ Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through his representative”. The traders were just exercising this right to express their grievances to the government. The government should have listened to these traders.

Google Ad: Indie Stylery Google Ad: Indie Stylery Google Ad: Indie Stylery

Both Amazon and Flipkart has asserted that they are not responsible for selling the products. It is the sellers who sell products through their platforms. On looking at the list of the sellers on these platforms, we can deduce there is a list of preferred sellers who accounts for more than eighty percent of sales on these platforms. For example, Cloudtail is the leading seller on Amazon. Cloudtail is owned by Prione Business Services, a joint venture between Amazon India and Catamaran Ventures. Catamaran Ventures is owned by NR Narayan Murthy, founder of Infosys. Thus, we can see that these platforms do not even provide equal opportunity to the traders who decide to sell their products on these platforms.

In India, brick and mortar stores account for the employment of about 30 percent of the population. The lack of growth of these stores is causing loss of income not only to the shopkeepers but also to the salesmen who work in these shops. The livelihood of these people is in peril and there is a constant fear of unemployment in the minds of those who work in these stores. Article 23(1) of UNDHR mandates that there must be “protection from unemployment”.

Thus, it is manifest that the current e-commerce model of Amazon and Flipkart is violating the basic human rights as guaranteed under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948. The government by not taking actions against these companies are violating the fundamental right, freedom to carry on trade and profession as enshrined under Article 19 of the Indian Constitution.

Since India is a signatory party to UNDHR, it is mandatory for the government to secure these rights for the people of India. There is a need for the government to take up steps to protect the livelihood of these traders along with it promote its flagship program of Digital India.  Instead of encouraging multi-national companies to start retail trade in India, the government should promote an indigenous platform for traders.  For instance, the Bharatemarket platform launched by CAIT must be encouraged. This platform has the active involvement of the small traders. Thus, it is healthy for both the promotion of the digital economy and the welfare of brick-and-mortar stores. In order to finish the problem of price-predatory and cashback, the government can come up with fair price legislation. As per this law, the company will fix the minimum retail price for their products. It will eliminate the price competition and provide more efficiency to the customers. By doing these steps, India will be able to secure human rights of equal opportunity and the right to protection against unemployment.

Share7Tweet4Share1Send
Priyansh Bharadwaj

Priyansh Bharadwaj

Related Posts

casino
Business

Legal Impediments in Legalizing Gambling in India

July 20, 2021

The recent headlines in the newspapers that the two men were apprehended by the Delhi police. These men were found to have illegally entered the Arun Jaitley Stadium during the match of Rajasthan Royals versus Sunrisers Hyderabad. This has...

Scientists opening a briefcase in the lab
Business

Finanomics – Economics of Patents

May 9, 2021

In last week's edition of Finanomics, I wrote about the need for the waiver of patents for vaccines as well as other covid-related innovations, as that could help end the covid-19 pandemic sooner. Since the last week's post went...

What are you looking for?

No Result
View All Result

Popular

Plugin Install : Popular Post Widget need JNews - View Counter to be installed

Our Instagram

Follow Us

  • An eight-time MLA, Yediyurappa became the Chief Minister for the first time in 2007 but had to resign after a week when JD(S) refused to support his government. A year later he was elected Chief Minister after leading the BJP to victory in the 2008 assembly elections. However, he had to resign after he was indicted in a corruption case in 2011. He had also formed his own party, Karnataka Janata Paksha, after he fell out with the BJP leadership. In 2014, he merged his party with the BJP and went on to win the parliamentary elections from the Shimoga constituency. He was later acquitted in 2016.  He was sworn in again in 2018 as the Chief Minister of the State but resigned two days later as he could not muster enough support to continue in his post. A year later, he was back as the Chief Minister after the earlier Chief Minister, H D Kumaraswamy lost the majority in the assembly. In the December by-elections, the BJP won 12 out of 15 seats and managed to get the full majority of 117 seats.
  • The BJP hit back at the Congress and claimed "there is not a shred of evidence" to link either the ruling party or the Modi dispensation with the matter. BJP leader and former IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad questioned the credentials of those behind the story as well as its timing, coming a day before Parliament
  • ‘Pegasus’ is a spyware used to snoop into handsets. It has been claimed that even a missed video call on WhatsApp could give Pegasus complete access to users
  • The Centre on Monday dismissed reports of illegal surveillance through the Pegasus software. A huge row has erupted after media outlets reported that the phone numbers of Indian ministers, journalists, activists and others were listed on a leaked database of potential targets of cyber surveillance.  “There is no substance whatsoever behind this sensationalism,” Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said during the Lok Sabha session.  The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will convene at till 11 am on Tuesday. They were both adjourned amid uproar by Opposition MPs.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced the newly inducted Union ministers to the Lok Sabha as he addressed the Lower House of Parliament. On July 7, as many as 43 leaders were inducted into the Cabinet, taking the number of members in the Union Council of Ministers to 78.  The Monsoon Session of Parliament began on Monday with proceedings in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha starting at 11 am. The session will conclude on August 13.  #parliament #modi #nda #debate #discussion #opposition #loksabha #rajyasabha #pm #monsoon #season #congress #inc

  • About Us
  • Terms Of Service
  • Privacy Policy

© Copyright 2020 Indraprastha Design Co. - Converciti

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Culture
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Identity
  • Events & News
  • Science & Tech
  • Login
  • Sign Up

Welcome Back!

Sign In with Facebook
Sign In with Google
OR

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Sign Up with Facebook
Sign Up with Google
OR

Fill the forms below to register

*By registering into our website, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In