How Amazon, Flipkart could be hit by new e-commerce rules from tomorrow
Live MintOn Friday, Indian consumers will wake up to an emptier, more expensive version of Amazon’s shopping service. In all, more than 400,000 items that account for nearly a third of Amazon’s estimated $6 billion in annual sales in India will probably disappear at least temporarily from the local version of the company’s service, as Amazon tries to comply with new e-commerce rules imposed by the Indian government. Barring a last-minute reprieve, Amazon’s leading rival in India, Flipkart, which effectively became a Walmart subsidiary last year, will also be forced to remove thousands of products from its service, particularly in the apparel category, where it sells many clothing items made by affiliated companies. Modi’s administration announced that, effective Feb. 1, foreign-owned e-commerce services like Amazon and Flipkart could not sell goods through affiliated companies. For the survival of these two entities, I can’t put the livelihood of my country at risk.” Snapdeal, an Indian online marketplace that was hurt by earlier price wars with Amazon and Flipkart, also cheered the policy changes while urging the government not to grant the companies more time to comply.