Draft e-commerce policy 'inimical' to govt's $1 trillion digital economy goal, will bring down FDI flows: IAMAI

IAMAI was also of the view that “the process of making the policy itself was less than inclusive and open” as compared to recent national-level policies New Delhi: Industry body Internet and Mobile Association of India Monday said the draft e-commerce policy may be “inimical” to the government’s efforts of building a trillion-dollar digital economy by 2022, and is likely to “severely bring down FDI flows” in the sector. In a statement, the IAMAI said: “it is of the view that the draft National E-commerce Policy may be inimical to the government’s efforts of building a trillion-dollar digital economy by 2022”. The government had sought comments from stakeholders on the draft national e-commerce policy in areas such as data, infrastructure development, online marketplaces, regulatory challenges, stimulating domestic digital economy and export promotion through e-commerce. “By artificially curbing cross-border data flow, by mandating data localisation, by extending the definition of e-commerce to include all digital services like digital advertising and online streaming and possibly imposing FDI restrictions on all digital services, the draft policy is likely to severely bring down FDI flows in the sector which is the backbone to building a trillion-dollar digital economy,” said IAMAI stated.