NEW DELHI: Even as the commerce ministry and Competition Commission of India are ramping up scrutiny into the issue of “deep discounting” and “predatory pricing”, traders' body CAIT has sent a letter to the government seeking the introduction of the minimum operating price (MOP) along with a uniform policy for discounts.
The move, according to the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), will not only end the trend of deep discounts by e-commerce platforms bringing parity in prices of online and offline markets.
“Under the circumstances and visualising it as a price war, we suggest it is high time when the government must step in and enforce the fundamental of MOP, which is the price consisting of landing price, operational cost and reasonable profit margin and below the MOP no product should be sold in the market,” it said.
CAIT alleged that e-commerce firms and brands in collusion with banks, by charging a much lower price than the actual market value are depriving the government of GST and other revenue.
“It is the responsibility of the brands to advise their buyers to sell their products at MOP to maintain the market hygiene keeping in mind that retailer should earn at least minimum margin to cover his operational cost and earn very thin margin,” the traders’ body led by Praveen Khandelwal, secretary-general, CAIT suggested.
“Cashback on credit cards given by banks should also be made applicable to offline trade. There should not be any kind of exclusivity either for online or offline trade. Upgrade or buyback offer by brands should remain the same for offline and online trade,” it said.