Halla Bol campaign against Amazon held across the country by CAIT

Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), and the trade leaders of more than 20,000 trade organizations of the country held a Halla Bol campaign against Amazon by handing over two memorandums in the name of Prime Minister to the collectors of over 500 districts across States.

In the first memorandum, CAIT has demanded immediate implementation of e-commerce rules under Consumer Protection Act and in the second memorandum, CAIT has demanded an expedited CBI probe into the reports of Amazon bribing government officials through its lawyers.

In Delhi, the memorandum was given by CAIT to the Divisional Commissioner of Delhi, Monika Priydarshini. Further, in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and other States, the memorandums were given to the District collectors.

Bribery charges

The trade body has also sent a memorandum to the Prime Minister, demanding a forensic audit of Amazon's financial documents that have been given to government departments over the years so that the allegations of Amazon bribing government officials through its lawyers could be verified.

CAIT National President BC Bhartia and Praveen Khandelwal said, “The manner in which Amazon has deeply indulged in intentional violation of rules and laws pertaining to the e-commerce sector of the country and keeping high scale of rigging is very serious and needs to be condemned in its strongest sense. It has painted India as a banana republic and has termed the Indian laws very weak and can be managed either way for its own gains, a matter which needs utmost and urgent attention. It is a fact that responsible authorities proved to be an utter failure and did not take any action despite lodging several complaints.”

Also read: CAIT criticises Niti Aayog for ‘interfering’ in e-commerce rules proposed by Consumer Affairs Ministry

CAIT also plans to convene an emergency meeting of its National Governing Council in Varanasi on September 30 and September 1, in which the leaders in all the States will participate and discuss the steps taken by the government on e-commerce and decide the future strategy. “The trade leaders can also consider the decision to close India business on this issue,” the trade body noted in a statement.

Earlier this week, a whistleblower complaint has alleged that monies given by Amazon to its legal representatives were being funnelled into bribes. In response, Amazon has put out a statement saying that it “takes allegation of improper actions seriously, will investigate them fully and take appropriate action.”