SJM backs CAIT
The complaints have the backing of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM).
“We have been demanding, since the entry of Amazon and Flipkart, that the government should ensure a level-playing field for small traders,” SJM convenor Ashwani Mahajan told ThePrint.
“In our pre-budget meeting with the finance minister, we also told her that this big corporation model of growth will not not empower our villages. Flipkart, Amazon and Facebook don’t pay tax to the Indian government even though they make money in India. This is a bizarre situation. It is good that the government has taken the case seriously.”
The ‘swadeshi lobby’ has been putting pressure on the government in recent years to prevent what they say is e-commerce giants destroying small traders.
Bowing to pressure from the small traders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi refused to meet Amazon Inc. chief executive Jeff Bezos in January this year, even though the latter announced his e-commerce giant’s massive investment plans for India.
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal went a step further, saying companies like Amazon and Flipkart were not doing any “favours” to India by investing billions of dollars in the country. He also warned them to follow the rules rather than finding any loopholes in law.
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