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An increasing number of Chinese e-commerce players are flouting rules to tap into the country’s booming online market, says Ashwani Mahajan, National Co-convenor, Swadeshi Jagaran Manch.
Quoting from a survey it conducted, the RSS-affiliated unit says small and medium businesses have also been affected by the operations of the Chinese firms.
In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mahajan said that a research conducted in partnership with LocalCircles, a community-focused social media network, found that close to two lakh orders are fulfilled everyday by Chinese e-commerce platforms such as AliExpress, Shein and Club Factory in the country.
The prices of products listed on these sites do not reflect the maximum retail price (MRP), flouting the Packaged Commodities Rules 2017.
Duty on gifts
The research also found that the Chinese e-commerce sites were exploiting a loophole under the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, which exempts custom duty for gifts of up to ₹ 5,000 received from abroad by persons living in India. These products do not attract GST either.
Given the scale of operations of the China-based sellers, this has had an impact on the whole ecosystem, Mahajan said in a statement.
To address these concerns, all product shipments from China to India should be restricted until a system is put in place to channelise products through the customs route. Payments from Indian banks and through gateways to unauthorised and unregistered (GST non-compliant) sites and apps should also be stopped, he added.
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