Informist, Friday, Sep 27, 2024

NEW DELHI – The finance ministry's August economic review gave prominence to a study on the e-commerce sector by the Pahle India Foundation, remarkably at odds with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal's scathing criticism of the report as "lies, damn lies, statistics."

The finance ministry has cited the findings of the Pahle India Foundation report to substantiate its remarks on India’s e-commerce industry. The sector has emerged as a dominant player in driving services sector growth in recent years, the ministry said in its Monthly Economic Review for August released Thursday.

At the launch of the same e-commerce report in August, Goyal had said, "I would like to completely disassociate myself with this report. Let me be clear that I do not agree with any of these findings."

As per the Pahle India Foundation report, online vendors generate 15.8 mln jobs across skill levels and retail functions. "On average, online vendors employ 54% more people and almost twice the number of female employees, compared to offline vendors," said the report. The Pahle India Foundation report was based on a pan-India survey of 2,062 online vendors, 2,031 offline vendors, and 8,209 consumers of products from e-commerce websites across 35 cities in 20 states and Union territories.

Citing the report, the finance ministry said that the e-commerce sector encourages competition by providing more choices and boosting consumer confidence. Goyal, on other hand, had said the e-commerce sector practises predatory pricing and was responsible for marring the business of small retail stores. "E-commerce is eating into small retailers' high-value, high-margin products," Goyal had said.

The e-commerce sector has witnessed a significant increase in job opportunities, as per the finance ministry. There has been a rise of 42% in managerial positions among online sellers, Pahle India's survey revealed.

But the e-commerce business is a more complex subject, Goyal had said. There is a need to carefully assess the sector and its impact on mom-and-pop stores, it should not be lauded based on a one-sided report that only sheds light on job creation, Goyal had said.

The e-commerce sector provides convenience, which is the primary factor in enhancing consumer well-being, and enabling easy shopping from home, the ministry said. But this convenience and easy shopping can make Indians "couch potatoes", Goyal had flagged.

The stark divide within the government underscores the complexity of India's e-commerce landscape. The commerce ministry has been working on formulating a comprehensive e-commerce policy to streamline regulatory frameworks for the sector. The new policy would aim at setting a level-paying field for small retail business and e-commerce, and curb predatory pricing by the latter. The ministry has held extensive stakeholder consultations, but is yet to release the policy. End

Reported by Krity Ambey

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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